Leaf Girl

Welcoming 2012

2012-01-02T17:53:00.005-07:00

I didn't have much planned for today, other than enjoying the day off from work. That was until I took the Christmas tree outside and saw how beautiful the weather was. I went back in and changed and headed out for a hike. I'm really glad I took advantage of the amazing weather we've been having.

I do appreciate living in a place that has four seasons. There's something harmonizing about it. As the seasons change, other things in your life change. From what foods I crave to what I do after work. The problem with four seasons, is that I don't like extremes. I pretty much like everything about spring and fall, summer and winter are a different story. I can't stand the heat of the summer and have never lived somewhere that I got to take advantage of air conditioning. But I do appreciate the long days and the escape from the heat that the canyons offer. I like being able to take Will to the pool and enjoy the cool water. I don't like the cold or the snow of winter. It's pretty up in the mountains and on Christmas, but that's the only time I want to see it. But I do appreciate the desire for soups and working on projects indoors that I ignore the rest of the year.

Today it was up to about 50. Not exactly normal for this time of year, but I'm definitely appreciative. I know there are negatives to this weather but I for one am going to try and take advantage while I can. A nice cool weather hike is the perfect start to a new year for me. I hope it's a sign of good things to come.

The trail normally looks like this is October instead of January

The plants are a little confused by the weather

A Child's Mind

2011-12-31T23:03:00.003-07:00

I recently saw a similar idea in Pinterest, and was very happy to see my mother-in-law had done this for Christmas. She asked each of the grand kids questions about their parents and then wrote them up as a gift. I think I might start doing this regularly with Will because I thought it was so funny. So according to Will, answers about me and Pat.

~What's mom's favorite food: tortillas and tacos with tomatoes
Dad's: ramen
(I do really like tacos, but I'm surprised even Will wouldn't say hamburgers for Pat)

~Where was mom born: Germany
Dad: Florida
(the funny thing about this one is that Pat's older sister was born in Germany and his younger sister was born in Florida. I was born in California and Pat was born in Massachusetts.)

~Favorite ice cream, mom: Vanilla
Dad: Chocolate
(not my favorite, I need stuff in my ice cream, but he did get Pat right)

~Favorite place to go, mom: Where Aunt B lives
Dad: England
(well I do enjoy that, although my dream is his answer for Pat)

~Favorite vegetable, mom: mom likes all kinds of vegetables
Dad: cherry tomatoes
(pretty close on that one)

~Favorite movie, mom: Don't know any movie she likes
Dad: Star Wars

~Does mom have a nickname: No (I really don't)
Dad: the kids in my class call him Pat (totally made me laugh)

~Pool, ocean or lake, mom: Ocean (definitely not)
Dad: pool

~Favorite snack, mom: tortillas
Dad: ramen
(apparently there isn't a lot of variety in our lives)

~How much does mom spend on food/week, mom: $20 (I wish!)
$40

~How much does mom's car cost? $200 + $1,000
(well that's just more than what I owe on my car...)

~How many flashlights are in mom's house: 1 or 2 or 3 or 4
Dad: 5

~Best gift mom & dad ever got from Santa: They never told me what they got from Santa
(I have rectified this)

~Favorite toy as a kid, mom: paper dolls
Dad: action figures

Christmas Wrap Up

2011-12-30T10:05:00.007-07:00

One of the things about being so "involved" on Facebook is that sometimes I feel like there is no point in having a blog, because I can just post stuff there. So this ends up being a repeat for most people. Oh well. If Facebook ever goes the way of Myspace, I guess I still have this history.

Christmas is over and done with, although those things I needed to mail but didn't want to stress about so said they would be New Year gifts, guess they still need to be done. Overall Christmas was very good except for the fact that I got a 24 stomach bug and was sick all of Christmas day.

Maiken and Britta and I all made my dad Monte a set of the 12 Days of Christmas ornaments that we had previously made our mom. He's been revealing them online one at a time though, so I feel like I should do a separate post later to highlight some of those. I get Will an ornament each year and the last few years have tried to make one. With the exception of two years, they have always been related to his Halloween costume that year. So I was already planning on making him a royal guard when he saw me working on the ones for Monte and asked if I'd make him a royal guard. I will say the shirt took me way too many patterns, but I was happy with how it turned out.

On Christmas Eve we had new visitors this year, Santa, Mrs. Claus, a reindeer and Buddy the Elf thanks to some cousins and a friend. They were all really cute and I think the adults enjoyed the laughs as much as the kids did.

Will promptly told me this wasn't the real Santa because he met the real Santa at school. But I loved the look in his eye of curiosity that they knew his name and one of the presents on his list.

I may have been up a little too late last night having fun on Facebook. I'd realized that I hadn't gotten any pictures of Will in the beret he asked for, honestly it was lucky I got any photos taken on Christmas with the way I was feeling. So I asked Will if he'd put on the beret and a scarf I made him. While taking some photos he kept asking if the shirt he was wearing was French and if someone French would wear it. They like Lego Star Wars in France right? Sensing he didn't feel the ensemble, I went searching for a different shirt. Not finding anything I told him he should put on his coat. I will say this is probably my favorite photo of Will from the whole year. Well minus the one from the colors festival.

This led to a FB discussion about him needing a mustache to complete the look. He wouldn't let me draw one on, but said I could do a paper one. Man I love this kid.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and wish everyone the best as we begin a new year!

Blah

2011-12-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't notice, I haven't been in a blogging mood. Honestly I haven't been in a much of anything mood. The time/weather change sucks. It takes away two things that honestly really helped me get through the last year, hiking and photography. I really miss being able to go for hikes after work. Not only does it give me a form of exercise I don't dread, but being out in nature is something I need to refresh my mind and soul. The last two months have been hard for me and I haven't found a good replacement.

(I have started going to Zumba with my cousin, which is a good fill in for the exercise part. And it would be more so if I ever get past the part where I mostly just stand there and go, oh wait, what was that, or we're moving on, wait how did you do...oh ok new thing...wait....this is hard)

As for photography, the only thing I really enjoy taking photos of is nature stuff. And yeah nature stuff still exists during winter. But it's all cold. And there is snow. And it gets dark early. And yeah. So instead my recliner and I have gotten to be better friends. And then I was going through my photos from the last year and realized, I don't really have that many that I'm truly happy with. I know that just means I need to practice more, but it was a bit discouraging.

A few months ago my cousin Katy passed along a thank you card she got from someone where they had printed a photo of theirs and attached it to a blank card. She suggested I should do something similar with some of my photos. I thought it was a great idea for a personalized Christmas card. And like most things, that I idea did not exactly go as planned.

I wanted to wait until their was snow on the ground to get a "winter" picture. But that created a situation of wanting to get a picture up high enough in the canyon to have snow on the ground, but timing that with the closing of canyons, finding a setting I like, and actually getting a photo I was happy with. Well what I ended up with was one last shot to get a photo, I either got it on that day, or I went to the store and bought cards.

There is a cool place up Payson Canyon called the Pine Forest. I hadn't been there since we had first moved to Utah 24 years ago (holy crap that just made me feel old!), but from what I remembered, I thought it had the possibility of a good photo. I got some directions and headed up there. I later realized what I thought might be the trail head was, but I doubted it and went a different direction following some tracks in the snow. Those tracks did eventually get me to the Pine Forest, but only after a 45 minute hike uphill, through snow, in uncomfortable boots. I spent at least 5 minutes just standing at a fork in the trail debating just turning around, but I'm glad I kept going and got there.

Anyone local that hasn't been up there, should go. It's such a peaceful, serene place. And I needed the time alone up there. Luckily on the way back I saw what I figured might be the real trail and was able to take the much easier, 15 minute way back. I have to say that on my 1" preview screen on my camera, the photos were much cooler looking. But I got something to use for a card, so not a waste.

Luckily I did get that one task completed, because 2 days later a wicked cold took over and claimed all of last week. Oh you don't feel like you will be able to get everything done for Christmas in the next two weeks? Ok, how about I just take away one of those weeks. Good luck! Thanks Universe. So some people are getting New Years presents instead.

(re-reading that, I'm not really as down as that all sounds, well maybe, but that's Christmas for ya.) Merry Christmas to all.

For Zen

2011-11-18T14:58:00.011-07:00

It's been a rough few days. My family's dog Zen was killed by a car on Wednesday. The amount of heartache I have felt makes me want to go back to all my friends and family that have lost dogs and tell them I understand so much more now, and I want to tell them I'm sorry all over again. We had pets all growing up so I felt like I was familiar with the pain of losing one. And I can't say I always handled it the best (don't ask my sisters about the guinea pig), but a dog is just...different. I also haven't had a pet I was really close to pass away since I was a kid. Maybe it hits harder as an adult.

I know everyone says it about their dog, but Zen really was the best dog ever. He was very obedient, never jumped on people, never destroyed things (except for that one time when light was shining on the couch, but humans have a bit of blame there.) He wasn't an obnoxious barker, he wasn't overly needy. He wanted to be near you, but would just lay nearby. He was obsessed with chewing on plastic bottles and loved to play tug, chase bubbles and try and catch the grass shooting out from the lawn mower.

He got scared by loud noises or people fighting and he would try and climb up into your lap, even though he was really too big. The back of the couch was his favorite place to be, keeping an eye on the neighborhood and letting you know if any of his friends were wandering nearby.

I left work on Wednesday after getting the call from my sister and I'm glad I did. I was able to sit on the grass next to Zen and stoke his still warm body and say goodbye. I helped lay him to rest in between the apple trees in my parents back yard.

I know time heals and already I start to feel better. And then I drive by someone with their dog and the tears start again. You were loved and adored Zen and will be greatly missed. I take comfort that you don't have to suffer from heart and eye problems anymore. But I'm selfish and I want you back. I told Will today that he needed to let me know what he wanted for Christmas soon. He said, the only thing I really want is Zen back. Me too bud, me too.

And whenever I'm feeling sad, I'll remember him in his doggles.

Rest in peace Zenner bean

Foto Friday

2011-10-28T23:11:00.006-06:00

If you know me well, you know how much I love dressing up for Halloween. And making costumes. Well, the finished costumes I like, I can't say sewing doesn't come without lots of frustration and swearing. This year I was really excited when Will said he wanted to be a Royal Guard for Halloween. I was a bit surprised, but also happy that some of my love for England seemed to be rubbing off on him. Someone asked him why he picked a Royal Guard and he said that it was because he loved Britland. Guess we need to work on a few of the details.

I'm really happy with how the costume turned out. I will say next to the mouse I made when he was first born, it's my favorite costume I've made him. He got a lot of compliments at the carnival we went to and that helps make it worth the work. But the real satisfaction was when Will first put it on and seeing him pose in the mirror and then telling me he thought it was awesome.

He doesn't look happy in these, but it's just him being in character. He took that part very seriously.

My dad did get him to crack for just a second

Lucia made a great vampire

This picture sums up so much about these two

Happy Halloween everyone!

Foto Friday

2011-10-14T18:32:00.009-06:00

So many pictures were taken this week! I apologize to those who are friends on FB and already seen most of these. On Sunday Will and I took a drive up to Aspen Grove. And apparently half of Utah County also had the same idea. The road up there is incredibly small and winding which means when there are 100's of cars on the road, it's a bit scary and not exactly the peaceful drive I was hoping for. But I did manage to get a few pictures of my favorite trees, the aspens.

For those not familiar with Utah's bi-polar weather, it was 90 less than 2 weeks before this. And now 6 days later it was mid 70's. You learn that just because you had to take out your sweaters, doesn't mean you should put away your shorts.

On Tuesday Will had his first school field trip so I took the day off and Pat and I tagged along. First stop was a huge nursery to visit a pumpkin patch.

There were about 65 kids, plus around 15 adults. They were loading people up onto a hay ride, which I thought was just going to go around the nursery. It was really full and multiple trips were going to be needed, so on the first group with Will I decided not to get on because I didn't want to take a seat from a kid. Another dad decided the same thing and stayed behind. After they had been gone a few minutes I started looking at the sign by the loading platform and noticed it said Hay Ride to the Pumpkin Patch. I pointed it out to the other dad and we decided we had probably unknowingly just missed the ride out to pick out pumpkins. We debated trying to walk and find them but decided since there were still more kids we would catch the next trip out. And as we had figured out on the way, our kids were done picking out their pumpkins by the time we got there and ready to head back. So here they are pumpkins picked out.

Next stop a park for lunch and then on to a grocery store for a tour. I'm not really sure the manager was expecting the size crowd we had and after awhile it pretty much just turned to a chaotic group running through the store. At which time Will got tripped and smacked face first into the ground and got a bloody nose. I figured with that many kids at some point during the day some kid was going to be crying, just didn't figure it would be mine. It was a fun day though and I'm glad I got to go.

Wednesday night I went to watch two of my co-workers play in their flag football division championships, which they won. I was glad I got to see them play and it was hilarious how excited these men got. Just takes a sports win to take them back to the excitement of 8 year olds.

Today I went for a hike up to Stewart Falls. Last fall when my dad Monte was visiting, we all went up but had the advantage of a special shortcut. I haven't been on the full hike since I was about 6. And the only memory I have of that was that on the way back my sister Maiken was racing our cousin and she tripped and ended up with some nasty road rash on her face. Today ended up being the perfect weather day to go and because it's not the weekend, it wasn't too crowded either.

The trail starts out through the aspen groves

The colors are absolutely perfect right now

The backside of Sundance

First view of the falls

I was really glad I bothered to take my tripod up so I could get some soft water pics.

I would really like someone to buy me one of these houses right in the middle. My new dream in life is to be able to stand on my porch and look at a waterfall. Because I can't think of anything better.

Foto Friday

2011-10-06T22:08:00.012-06:00

On Saturday I got up at a too early hour to go on a photo shoot with my teacher Wade and a friend of his. We went up to Midway which is extra beautiful this time of the year and worked on shooting in morning light. I have to say when I came home and looked at my pictures I was pretty disappointed. I've had that feeling a lot lately when I look at my pictures. Just always hoping they will be just a little bit different. A little more special. Yesterday a friend posted this quote from Ira Glass, host of This American Life on NPR. It perfectly said what I needed to read about how I'm feeling about photography right now. I've always had a problem with expecting too much from myself, I want to be immediately good at everything. It was a good reminder that I just need to keep practicing.

I don't think I ever ended up blogging about going to see Ira Glass speak earlier this year. It was amazing. I've been in love with him for many, many years and somehow loved him more after seeing him. I really wish I would have had a tape recorder that night.

Pigs in Midway

This is the kind of thing I still really struggle with and get frustrated about, the focus on this ended up on the fence instead of the pig. But I still like the shot.

The handsome teacher letting me practice portraits and light

On Sunday I heard two different flocks of geese loudly flying over our apartment. We see a lot of canadian geese this time of year on their way south. There is a little pond and stream system near my house that is a popular resting point so we decided to go see who was stopping by and feed the geese.

There were two humungo catfish (I think) that were fighting the geese for their share of the bread. I tried to get a pic where you could see just how big this guy was, but they were too fast and stirred up the mud a lot. He was about the same length as the geese though.

Wednesday was my last night of the photo class. We practiced a few kinds of different lighting which there is almost an infinite amount of stuff to learn about. We also had a model there who very graciously let us pose her and set up shots. It was actually really hard for me. Something I'm definitely not comfortable doing. It was fun to see how everyone else did their shots though and get some different ideas.

I've had a lot of fun and I'm really going to miss the class. Wish it had been a lot longer. Wade set up a Facebook group for all of his friends that are into photography and hopefully we will encourage each other to go on shoots and keep learning from each other. I'm actually hopeful that this group of people might be more of what I was looking for when I signed up for the Meetup.com photo group, which hasn't really panned out to be something I like yet.

Foto Friday

2011-09-30T18:09:00.006-06:00

First a little photo catchup. I forgot to post this from our commune trip. When Will and Alex worked at the coffee shop, they became friends with the group of old guys that come in every morning. One of the guys invited them over to his house and ended up giving them a bunch of records from his collection. I should have spent more time looking through them because it's fun to see all the covers, even if you don't know the album. I picked out a few though that I liked to take a picture. I love that the commune prefers records and it was fun to listen to them while we were making dinner.

This sign is in the bathroom at a restaurant I sometimes go to and it just makes me laugh. Because if you have to be told that something is common decency, a good chance you don't give a shit.

Last week in photo class we talked about leading lines and using them to draw focus to something in your photo, or to just lead your eye through the photo. It was actually harder to go out and just find something without setting it up than I thought. The examples Wade showed us in class were in an orchard and of train tracks so I wanted to avoid using the same thing. So of course where I went I was surrounded by orchards and train tracks. These are what I got.

The other thing we talked about is the rule of thirds. As with most photography rules, there are definitely times to break them, but a lot of times your picture will be more interesting if the main focus is not in the middle, but at a point horizontally or vertically broken into thirds. Our assignment was to take one photo with the subject in the middle and then the same photo using thirds. I think this is a good example of how the thirds picture is more interesting.

This week I was a bad student and bailed on class because I got invited last minute to attend an Erasure concert. Luckily I think Wade forgave me and we are going on an early morning shoot tomorrow up the canyon. Maybe that's my punishment for missing class, having to get up at 5:30 a.m. The concert was awesome though! I can't say I'm a huge Erasure fan, but we had The Innocence album growing up and regularly listened to it on Saturdays while cleaning. It will always remind me of that. And hearing it at Lagoon in jr high while waiting for my friends to go on the roller coasters because I was too scared to go.

I wasn't able to take photos in the concert, but we went to Bar-X after just for a few minutes and I loved their glowing wall. The bar was bought by Danny Devito and re-done. I'd never been to it before, but it's a cool little bar now. And from what my friends said, a great improvement. They didn't have any of the kind of drinks I usually order so I asked the bartender if I could just have something girlie (I'm such a lame drinker), and she came back with something she just sort of threw together and it was really good. Sign of a great bartender! Overall it was a really fun night. And worth getting less than 4 hours of sleep before work for.

Foto Friday

2011-09-23T16:30:00.011-06:00

Wrap up of the last day of our weekend trip. On Sunday we went with Will to feed the animals he was house sitting. A friend of theirs has 40 acres just outside the east gate into Zions National Park.

Their spread

When we turned onto their road, someone was trying to make a run for it. Luckily Will was able to get Feather to come up to him with the temptation of an apple and get him (or her not sure) back behind the fence where he belonged.

Also running around was Wacko one of the alpaca's. But apparently you can't keep him locked up so he is left to roam as he pleases. While we were there he decided to go into the fenced area and made it clear he was ignoring us.

Alpacas do love showers though to cool off. So he did come up willing to Will to get drenched with the hose.

Long Legs wanted some water too. Apparently he broke his neck and it's not quite right. He couldn't lift it much higher than you see in this picture. He was one of the saddest animals I'd ever seen.

The other two horses. The closer up pics all had sun spots, but the white horse is covered in brown freckles and is very beautiful.

One of those times when I really wished I had a longer lens

It was a great visit and I'm really glad we were able to go down.

A little country fun on the way home

My dad Monte had asked if we would stop in Fillmore on the way home and get an updated picture of a Huntsman family home. Our pioneer ancestors settled the town of Fillmore which used to be the state capital. The home happens to be on the market which meant we were able to look in the windows and walk around the back yard. It's a beautiful home which I would LOVE to own, except that it's in Fillmore.

I had my second photo class being held by my friend Wade. I'm going to be sad when it's over. Our assignment last week was to take the same shot but adjust the F-stop to learn more about how that particular setting works. The F-stop is basically the field of focus. A low number will have a limited field of focus, the higher the number, a larger field of focus. Out of the 3 main things you need to adjust when shooting in manual, the F-stop has been the one I haven't really figured out. This assignment actually really helped me to understand it better. These were one of the sets of shots I did, and it's just a cool van so wanted to post them. See if you can tell the difference (click on it to see larger.) The first one has the lower F-stop of a 4. The second one is moved up to an 11. (the tree and back hub cap are good places to see the difference) (actually now that I look at it posted, much easier to tell with them printed than on here. Just take my word for it :)

Foto Friday. On Saturday.

2011-09-17T15:02:00.010-06:00

We are down in Orderville visiting the commune to celebrate my sister's birthday. Today we ventured out on a hike which we have yet managed to do on any of our visits. We weren't sure how well the kids would do, but beside the point when Will slipped into the mud and immediately claimed he wanted to go home, they did really well.

The hike Will and Alex chose to take us on was to The Crack.

This is what first greets you off the road. Maybe a warning?

Merely a suggestion

I was squatting down trying to take a picture of a plant for my mom when something nudged my back. This guy came up to say hi

The first part of the hike is just meandering through the sagebrush and junipers until you get to the riverbed. This is the part where is starts to get interesting.

Normally it's a dry creek bed that does involve a lot of rocks but nothing too bad. Yesterday it rained though. A lot. And there was lots of mud to try and maneuver around. After Will's slip in the mud, I was warning Alex who was behind me that it looked like this part was in danger of sliding off into the river bed so to be careful. And as I'm saying it, of course right where I stepped broke off and fell away. Along with me into the mud. I was fine but my camera did get a little muddy. Luckily it doesn't seem to be damaged and once it's all dry I think I can get it all brushed off.

The walls on the far side of the Crack, are lined with graffiti carvings. There are so many though that it actually looks kind of cool.

Will challenging the wall to a duel

Behold, The Crack

Alex scaled up into another crack on the left of where the people are. If you click on the picture you might be able to make her out on the left by the trees. Will has also shimmied up there, but the rest of us decided to just enjoy the view from below.

In the spring a waterfall fills up this small pool

Playing in the mud. Because it's ok to poke in, just not to land in.

Mud bubbles

It was a beautiful little hike and the end has a very special feel to it. Maiken commented that it felt like we were walking into a temple. I'm really glad we got to go.

Throughout the hike crows circled above the high canyon walls. And of course every time I pointed my camera at them, they disappeared. When we got out of the canyon, there was a swarm of them, joined by a few vultures. All the pictures I tried to get of them with something else interesting in the shot didn't come out with more than one or two birds. So just a sky full of them. For Wade.

Foto Friday

2011-09-10T10:20:00.006-06:00

This week I heard a radio show about a book Farm City. It's about a woman's experience running an urban farm in Oakland, CA. One of the things she talked about in regards to the problems our country has with food was the disconnect most people have from how their food is actually grown and the amount of work that goes into that. I'm grateful for growing up with parents that always had a garden. I'm grateful to know the special taste of a garden fresh tomato and the sweetness of a vine picked strawberry.

Pat and Will have been growing some plants in Gil's garden and Pat had asked for a few photos of my mom's garden. Because of the weird weather we had this year, some things have not been doing as well. But as you can see, there is still a lot of plants.

Grapes

Cabbage

Peppers

Voluntary sunflowers

This thing

I don't remember what it's called

Tomatoes

And more tomatoes

Tomatoes have always been a large part of my mom's garden and get canned into salsa and stewed tomatoes. As well as enjoyed throughout the summer. My mom has been working part time at a local garden nursery this summer, something I always thought would be a perfect job for her. Today she is teaching a class on salsa. Last night Lucia and Will wanted to help cut up the tomatoes for today, but had to take turns because the British apron was the only one they both wanted to wear.

They are really good helpers. For about 5 minutes.

I'm very thankful that our kids are growing up with knowledge about the experience of growing your own food.

Willie Boy

2011-09-07T21:48:00.008-06:00

When Will was still very tiny he would try and grab my hair while I was curled up in the recliner feeding him. I started making sure I had my hair pulled back because without fail it would end up tangled up in little baby fingers. As he got older the uncontrolled grabbing changed to soft rubbing and it went from an annoyance of getting my hair ripped out, to something that made me smile. When he got even older you would pick him up for one of his famous hugs and his little arms would immediately go to the back of your neck and start playing with your hair.

Will turned six today. I can still remember that precious alone time the two of use had in the hospital. Will wasn't figuring out how to nurse and their only guess was that it was because he was a few weeks early. One of the suggestions they had was what they called kangaroo time. I would strip him down to his diaper and place him under my hospital gown so we had skin on skin time with his tiny body curled up on my chest.

Until you have a kid I don't think you can understand the crazy hormones, the stress and feeling so unprepared. But those moments with him curled up, our breathing matching each other, nothing felt stressful or unprepared. It just felt natural.

On the weekend mornings I usually get up a little before Will does and make my way into the recliner. Will sleepily comes into the living room and curls up in my lap to finish waking up. And after a few minutes I'll feel his arm slide up and reach back to pull my hair over my shoulder. And his still small hands wind it around his fingers. And it just feel natural. And makes me smile.

No changes this year as far as his likes (obsessions) go. His loves still revolve around dogs (especially Jackie), anything army and legos, with a particular attention to star wars. But this is a big year in that he started school recently. I'm so proud of my little inquisitive guy. He still gets his feelings crushed very easily. But that comes from him having such a huge heart that he wears for everyone to see. And I would never trade that.

As much as I miss my tiny little guy, I'm excited to see him grow and learn new things. And someday I know he'll out grow wanting to curl up in my lap and play with my hair, but he'll always be my little kangaroo bug.

Foto Friday

2011-09-03T00:42:00.005-06:00

On Tuesday a friend of mine suggested looking on meetup.com after we talked about needing to get out more. After about 2 minutes of looking I found a local photography group that looked like something I would be interested in. They were having their next meetup on Thursday at the Payson carnival. Seemed perfect. I signed up and RSVP'd for my first meetup. Stuff like this gives me panic attacks so I knew I needed to make a commitment right away or I would likely back out.

So Thursday I went off to meet my new group and hopefully learn from the experience of the group. Sadly there was some bad info and although the carnival was setup on Thursday, it wasn't running yet. We agreed to go at different times during the weekend and hopefully still be able to get some good shots to share. Although I was a little disappointed our shoot didn't work out, it was nice to meet some of the people so I won't be as nervous next time.

I then realized that while putting my purse in my trunk so I didn't have to carry it around, I had put my keys in my purse. And my spare was also in my purse. Awesome. My mom and dad came down to help and after a valiant but unsuccessful effort, embarrassed I called the police for assistance. With the use of their fancy tools (and my mom's spatula) we were able to get my car unlocked. Thank you police! Later that night my computer crashed (I'm having to borrow Will's), so not exactly an awesome night.

We took the kids to the carnival tonight and thanks to Maiken entertaining the kids, I was able to try some shots on my own. After a call to my dad for some tips, I did walk away with some nice photos. There were some things like my carousel in motion shots that all failed, so I would like to go another night this weekend and try again. But not bad for one evening.

And my friend Wade is going to be teaching a beginner camera class that I am extremely excited about! Helpful tips to be showing up in future foto friday shots.

Foto Friday

2011-08-26T16:12:00.005-06:00

I apologize to my internet friends that I have been a little scarce online. Work is kicking my ass right now. There are a few reasons but one is the starting of our new recreation center we are building. We had the official ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday and it's a lot of work putting something like that together when really all it is, is a photo op.

It was nearly 100 that day and I feel like I'm still recovering from being outside for half the day.

Ready for shoveling

The crowd. One of the things that make an event like this hard to plan for is you could just as easily have 20 people as you could have 100. We were estimating 50, and had over 200. I was not exactly prepared for that amount! But it was fun to have that many people there supporting us.

One of the fun parts of our events is seeing the reaction our mascot Zippy gets from the crowd. This little guy immediately came running over and followed Zippy around for most of the event.

Zippy can even get the contractors to smile

Time for the traditional ground breaking. (there was actually a lot of people there taking photos/filming so we were all each others way and I was a little bummed I couldn't get any shots of the full circle of people)

My boss couldn't be satisfied with just your average ground breaking though, so he planned for the Mayor to kick it up a notch from just your average shovel.

Overall it went really well and I'm glad it's over. But afterwards you kind of go through event let down. It's kinda like the day after Christmas. Except you didn't get any gifts. So now back to our regular job. And the start of construction which will be interesting, but I'm guessing just a bit more stress ahead for the next 18 months.

In some non-work news, the canyons are starting to show signs of fall approaching.

As much as I love fall, it's my favorite season, I'm sad about the days starting to get shorter which really affects my ability to go on hikes after work. I need to make sure I take advantage the next couple of months before my sanctuary is covered in snow.

I got a late birthday present from my sister Britta in mail. She made me a beautiful little lidded clay container.

While she was here visiting she was working on a clay tiki mug and teasing Will that it was his face that she was carving. He told her it didn't look anything like him and that he would draw his face for her. She saved the picture he drew and said that she would put it on something. Inside the container I have Will's little drawing of his face. And I love it.

And lastly my baby starts school on Tuesday. I always figured I would be one of those parents that loved my kid going to school and was surprised the wave of anticipation I have about him going. I'm not an overprotective parent, but I'm feeling the desire to just want to be able to watch over my guy a little bit more before sending him out into the world of school bullies and teasing. Here's wishing him luck! He's showing off one of the squash he helped grow with his dad. I sure do love this kid.

Foto Friday

2011-08-19T21:32:00.004-06:00

We hung out at the county fair today. The fair is always an interesting place. The fair is the place to see fat pigs (which was all Lucia wanted to see)

Family of frogs made from dough

Running chickens

I know that most animals at the fair are raised for food. I just don't want to be reminded of it in such an obvious way

Lego displays (Will is so going to be one of these guys in 20 years)

Exciting rides. Our kids have gotten to that point where they are bored after about 10 seconds on the kid rides, but too small for the big rides.

I think we will try the state fair this year and hope the excitement level is bumped up a bit.

Surrogate

2011-08-07T22:43:00.000-06:00

Rain is a sign to me from the heavens that everything is going to be ok. I realize this may sound like a very narcissistic thing to say, but it doesn't matter, that's just how it is. Now that doesn't mean that every time it rains it's a sign for me. But it does mean that I do feel a connection to the heavens every time it rains.

This evening I went to my sanctuary, the canyons. In need of some soul fulfillment, struggling with a question, I sought out my refuge in the quite of the mountains. I made my way down a trail I have started before but never gotten far on. There was nothing extremely special about this trail, nothing that made me stop to pull out my camera which swung along my back. I've never made it far on this trail in part because it's steeper than my cardio level considers enjoyable. But I kept pushing along making sure the hike was at least long enough to be considered a workout.

Nearing my designated minimum time, I stopped to catch my breath and take in the view. A short ways off of the trail there was a clearing with two trees. They had a very inviting air around them. A place that you would like to lay under and dream away an afternoon. I headed through the tall grasses towards them to find out that the canyon grazing cows had also found them inviting which meant it wasn't a place you would want to lay. I continued past the trees which lead to another small meadow lined by a grouping of aspen. Aspen have been my favorite trees for a long time. And I'm not sure if for some reason I never noticed this, or more likely it escaped my memory, but the leaves fluttering in the gentle breeze sounded exactly like a rain storm.

I closed my eyes. Standing in the mountain meadow feeling the roughness of the waist high grasses running through my fingers. And on this hot August night without a cloud in the sky, I got my rain. And carried by the sound, the comforting feeling still washed over me. Every thing is going to be ok.

Foto Friday

2011-08-05T23:57:00.006-06:00

I have no idea how people like my friend Marty do a daily blog. I'm really struggling to do a weekly one. And struggling to feel motivated to even use my camera. But I'm not giving in. I'm gonna force my way through it because I know it's good for me. And hope that sometime soon the desire to do it actually comes back.

The one time I actually pulled my camera out this week was because I loved this dill that my mom was drying from her garden.

I also noticed that I had a few other pictures I never posted, so a continuation of photo catch up.

Sometimes things don't go as planned

And sometimes when you don't expect it, you come around a bend and find a natural spring water fountain at the end of your hike. I'll have to say I now really want there to be natural spring water fountains along all the hikes I go on.

We haven't been to the pool as much this year because of the cool weather at the beginning of the summer and then having a lot going on this last month. But we did make it one time while my sister Britta was visiting. Will and Lucia are both very comfortable in the water and want to stay for hours.

Ella was happy as long as the water wasn't above her knees

And Sophie was most content on the towel

Last month while on a hike I came across this humongous mushroom. I included my very dirty foot for size reference.

When I showed my dad this picture he said that it's a puffball mushroom and that they taste really good and I should go back and get it. I told him there was no way in hell that was happening. This thing creeped me out big time. As I was walking down the trail I kept looking behind me to make sure nothing was hatching out of it and following me. Creepy.

Foto Friday

2011-07-29T11:37:00.003-06:00

I am NOT abandoning my blog today! Instead I'm going to play a little photo catch up from the last few weeks.

While waiting for kid exchange, a moon roof can be a cool place to hang

Paris in Vegas will probably be the closest I ever get

Last weekend Maiken, Britta and I all flew up to Boise for a quick visit with our Aunt Chris who is dying from cancer. Thanks to Britta we wanted to make sure we took the opportunity while she was visiting because you just never know when it will be your last visit. Even though she is the one that is sick she spoiled the three of us. We just spent lazy days lounging on couches talking. Exactly what we wanted. With occasional interruptions from the cats.

Boots made sure everything was ok outside by keeping watch on his perch by the window.

Chance kept hidden the first day, but much to the surprise of my aunt, decided we were ok enough to come out for a visit and even allowed some scratching.

Cancer sucks. And its a horrible awful thing to watch someone struggle with it. But you know what, it gave us a chance to say goodbye. And that's such a hard thing to do but I wouldn't trade that weekend away. I know I have friends who wish they'd had the opportunity to say goodbye. And I'm glad we didn't pass up that blessing.

Britta and the girls have gone home but we got a nice long visit from them. The day before they left we went up the canyon for a picnic. Attempts were made to get some good group shots of the kids. Sometimes the out takes are just as awesome if for nothing else, to showcase the kids personalities.

And someday I will learn that having them say something to try and break up the forced smiles, doesn't usually work out that well

And because it's still making me laugh

Foto Friday

2011-07-15T15:37:00.004-06:00

This week has been a very somber one. Two friends lost parents very unexpectedly this week. They both said goodbye to them today and its definitely one of those times when you feel at a loss for words. And so instead, I'll give them photos.

For Brenda

For Wade

Last night

There was a beautiful full moon last night and I tried to take a photo but realized I wasn't up on my night time photo taking skills. I would have just deleted this but at the funeral Wade's sister mentioned how special the full moon was too their family. So for that reason, I'm posting it.

I love you guys and feel very blessed to have you as friends. My heart hurts for you and your families and I hope that in time you are able to be comforted by the memories of your parents.

Foto Friday

2011-07-09T10:33:00.004-06:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately, just need a break sometimes. So I'm taking a break here for a few days.

So hopefully when I get back, things will resume. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Foto Friday (a little late)

2011-06-18T12:06:00.003-06:00

Week in review

Sunday evening I went on a walk along the river trail near my home. The cottonwood tree fluff is in full bloom leaving the trail looking like snow has freshly fallen.

I'm not sure what kind of tree this is, but they were in full bloom and very pungent.

Monday I went on a wonderful hike in the rain. Didn't want to get my camera wet so it stayed home. But the rain limited the crowds, and the mosquitoes. It was a warm night and the rain was light, a perfect evening.

Tuesday I decided to go back to the trail I'd been scared away from by creeper guy. Unfortunately the trail is now closed due to damage from the overflowing river. It might be awhile till I can get back up there. So I tried another trail I've never been on. I was pleasantly surprised to find another great trail that I can't wait to go back to.

Hobble Creek Canyon is now open to cattle grazing. On one hand I feel so sorry for the cows stuck in small enclosures standing in their own filth. So I'm happy they get to spend a few months wandering the canyons. But on the other hand they become way too comfortable with cars and just stand in the road. By the end of the summer the last thing you want to see along the road is the cows.

I hadn't made it very far down the trail when I came across a herd of about 10 cows. Unfortunately it was at a spot where there was no way for them to get away from me, except to travel further down the trail. I didn't want to turn around yet, so I just kept walking, and they kept running away.

The little straggler in the back kept stopping and staring at me. It was like he was saying, are you really still following us? Really? Sorry little guy.

After a few more minutes there was a creek crossing that was a little more than I was up for and by then the mosquitoes were actually driving me crazy. I'm glad I was alone because there was a lot of yelling at them. So earlier than I wanted, I turned back. Part way back something flew up from the trail startling me. I stopped to see what it was and a hummingbird flew to within inches of my face. I'm pretty sure he was interested in my purple shirt. He spent several minutes circling me, stopping to hoover and decide what I was. I very slowly slipped the lens cap off my camera and switched it on. I gently raised the camera up to my shoulder and tried to get a picture of him checking me out. Of course I couldn't line up the shot or adjust any settings so this was the best I got. I'm just glad I got something. It was one of the coolest wildlife experiences I've ever had. It was definitely a role reversal where instead of me stopping to check out wildlife, I became the subject of investigation. Would much rather that experience with a hummingbird than a mountain lion.

A beautiful day in the valley

Friday was Will and I's first time to the pool this summer. Not including Lagoon, which didn't really involve playing in the water because of how cold it was. Luckily the Payson pool does heat their water. I bought the kids little snorkel sets. The goggles were well used, but the snorkels were a little harder to figure out. I always wonder at the start of the summer if Will will have retained the progress he made the following year in the water. He did great! He's becoming more and more comfortable in the water and willing to try new things. His swimming attempt looks more like an inch worm than swimming, but he has a lot of fun.

And apparently the whole family loves goggles, including Zen. These are official Doggles and Keeley and Will dropped off, on their way home from assisting in the birth of Will's sister's baby. Zen has an auto-immune disease which makes his eyes very sensitive to UV rays. The doggles are supposed to help block the rays from his eyes. You can tell how much he loves them.

Foto Friday

2011-06-11T11:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Maiken and I took the kids to Lagoon. For those that aren't familiar, Lagoon is our local amusement park. I don't like amusement parks and haven't been there since high school. Lines, crowds, scary rides, extremely expensive, who wouldn't want to go! A friend at work had a free pass only good for Friday that she couldn't use and gave to me. We decided that for free, we couldn't pass up the chance to take the kids, because we're pretty sure we may never take them again. It would have cost us $165 if we'd paid for it. That's just crazy people. So off we went to make the most of our opportunity.

Any amusement park is going to have lots of this, waiting.

We very quickly found out which of the lines moved the fastest and avoided all others. Luckily one of the rides that never had a long line was the perfect ride for Will.

Getting to pretend to shoot other planes? Perfect! This shot is out of focus, but I just loved how much he enjoyed this ride.

After a few of the kiddie rides we went over to the water park. Which would have been a lot more fun if it had been about 20 degrees warmer. The water was freezing! When we were getting out of the lazy river a couple was getting in and stopped at the stairs when their feet hit the water. The lady asked, are they trying to make it as cold as a river? Yeah lady, I think that was the issue. Not the weather.

I didn't want to take my nice camera into the water park so I had just grabbed my little one. And forgotten that it needed to be recharged. So I only got one picture before it died. Good thing I made the one picture count.

Even with the freezing water, we still had a lot fun. After a few hours we made our way back to dry land. And took to the sky in helicopters

And planes

All the kiddie rides have a lock on the seatbelts so the attendant has to come around with a key. It makes for a lot more waiting.

Maiken and Lucia took a spin on the Dragonfly

Then a ride across the park on the Sky Ride. My last visit to Lagoon was my senior year of high school, the last week of school. Because I don't like roller coasters, or the majority of other rides, I can't say I'm the most exciting person to hang out with there. I went on the sky ride while my friends went on the roller coaster and the plan was to meet up right after. Except my "friends" decided I wasn't much fun and never turned up at the meeting place. So I spent the last hour just riding the Sky Ride back and forth. Good memories. Maiken was remembering that she really liked the Sky Ride until she got on it. Oh well, ended up being one of the two rides I actually went on. And its a good way to see the park.

The other ride I went on was the Carousel. I know, I told you I'm exciting. And my very adventurous child picked the little bear that rocked instead of going up and down.

Lucia went for the cat and Maiken wanted to ride a stallion.

After six hours this was the look on Will's favorite ride.

Cue time to leave!

Canyons and Rivers and Rocks

2011-06-07T22:34:00.007-06:00

On Sunday evenings, during the nice part of the year, I love to go up the canyon and end the week with some time in my favorite spots. Because of the weird spring weather I haven't made it up to my Hobble Creek Canyon hikes. This Sunday was beautiful and I was excited to get up there. Unfortunately the place I really wanted to go was packed with cars and I figured the spot I wanted to photograph had a high chance of having others there. So I moved on to a trail I hadn't been on yet. I was the only car there, just the way I like it.

The rivers are definitely full, fast and loud. And there is a beauty in their power.

I had just finished taking photos of these roots when I looked down the trail and noticed a guy coming up behind me. I've actually had very good luck that when I've been alone on a trail, I've remained alone the whole time. There are a few trails that I like that are always busy, but I just prefer being alone on my hikes. I don't usually feel vulnerable hiking by myself but I have started carrying pepper spray and I do try to be very aware of my surroundings. It may have been a moment of intuition, it may have been a moment of paranoia, but I did not feel comfortable on the trail with this guy. I stopped and pretended to be taking some more photos allowing the guy to pass me. Once he had gone around the next bend I got the hell out of there. I'm pretty sure I have not ran that far since high school. Luckily I wasn't that far up the trail and it didn't take long to get back to my car. I was kinda pissed because the hike was beautiful and I didn't get very far, but not worth sticking around. I'll have to revisit another time.

I didn't want to go home, so I just stuck to places along the road to take photos. The water reminds me of hot chocolate this time of year.

I'm really, really, really craving a stronger (longer, bigger, not sure the correct camera term) lens. I'm very drawn to plants growing out of crevices in rocks and I really wanted to be able to get closer shots. I loved the exposed roots on this plant.

Today I was still feeling a bit jittery about my experience on Sunday so I went back to the very pretty, but way to popular Rock Canyon. And what do you know, more flowers in rocks.

I love when the moon is out during the day. For some reason it always feels special to me. (sadly I found out after I got home that I had several spots on the lens. damn spots)

Foto Friday

2011-06-04T00:17:00.003-06:00

Two weeks of lameness! Good thing I had a good post in between. I had this plan tonight that we were going to go to take the kids to the carnival and it would be a great time to practice different lighting shots and hopefully get some good pics. Well I guess I should have actually looked online before I made those plans, cause the carnival starts next week. Awesome. And I was too tired/bored/lazy to make a different effort today.

I did take a pic of Will and his awesome accessory of the day. Some show was on last night and they mentioned legwarmers and Will perked up and asked if I knew where his legwarmers were. Which Maiken bought for him a few years ago when the girls all got some. He was putting them on this morning explaining how you could wear them when you didn't want to wear pants, but they are kinda like pants and he should start wearing them with this pajama shorts. Ok.

Before we left
Will: mom, are people going to laugh at me?
Me: probably, but you should still wear what you want to

(blowing the dandelion in the pic was his idea, and if there was anything this pic needed it was dandelion blowing!)

I hope my child doesn't hate me when he gets older.

Just Passing Through

2011-05-30T00:33:00.001-06:00

I need to start this post by saying, please don't be worried by it. I'm not planning on going anywhere. But the point of it is that you never do know when your time will be up. And having things planned takes some of the worry out of it. I don't see this as tempting fate or whatnot, but being realistic. And hopefully I have a long full life ahead of me.

Enough of a setup? I would like to plan out my funeral. Well parts of it. When my aunt Bis died a few years ago she had everything planned from who would speak, what they would talk about and how long they would talk. She even had the caterer picked out with the menu planned. Some details will obviously be up to the person actually going through with the arrangements, but some things I'm pretty particular about. And I'll be dead so I guess in reality its not really about me, but yeah it is about me. Humor me.

~Obituary: I read a lot of obituaries. Fascination I have. Please list how I died. Hopefully I wouldn't die in a way that would embarrass my family, but if I did, make a vague reference or say it was an accident. People want to know these things. Give the people what they want!

~Organ Donation: Please have them take what they can. I'm a little skived out by the body to science concept, but short of that, go for it. Let someone else benefit from my passing.

~Cremation: This wasn't something I wanted until recently, but I have a few reasons for it. First, easier if they end up being able to use a lot of things from my body. Second, I find it a little ridiculous that we pump dead people full of chemicals, pay thousands of dollars to put them in a fabric lined metal sealed casket, and more money to put that in a cement vault. Please don't do that. I don't judge you if that's what you want. But I don't.

~Burial: I want my ashes scattered up the canyon. If someone wants to remember me I don't want that done in a cemetery that holds no meaning to me. I want someone to remember me in a place that gave me joy and comfort and maybe they will experience that there too. I have a very special spot at the top of the pass between Hobble Creek and Diamond Fork canyons. Maple Lake is pretty special too me also. Along with an overlook at the top of the Nebo Loop. As long as I'm up the canyon, I'll be happy.

~Funeral: I don't want a church funeral. I'm sorry if this will make some people sad, but its just not me. I would really like a bbq up the canyon somewhere that people can just reminisce and hopefully share fond memories. If you brought a guitar and sang songs around the campfire, even better. If its bad weather, maybe you could use some of my life insurance to rent out Bombay House and have a great meal on me. And on the weather note, I really want it to rain. Hard. That would kind of mess with my canyon funeral plans, so maybe it will wait till that night. Or the day after, or the day I die. Cause you know, I'm planning on being able to control this. But if it rains, please smile.

~Will: I really hope that when I die Will be a grown man that I have seen live a great life. But if for some reason I pass before then, I hope this blog is still around and that he gets to read it. That if nothing else he will be able to see the love and joy I got from being his mom. That kid is pretty damn special and I hope he grows up never questioning the love he has surrounding him. I will forever be part of you bug.

And because no one leaves saying they wish they'd said it less, I love you guys. All of you. I'm surrounded by wonderful people in my life and I'm not sure what else I could truly want out of life than that.

Foto Friday

2011-05-27T23:52:00.005-06:00

I have a stupid cold and since I put up lots of pics in one week, I thought about blowing today off. But I'm reading a photography book and one of the things it says is that if you really want to learn your camera settings you have to force yourself to use it every day. Even if you aren't getting amazing shots of anything, you're still learning more about your camera. So nothing exiting, but it's photos.

One of the effects of all the crazy rain we've had this spring, is the grass is growing like crazy! It actually doesn't seem like we live in a desert this year. My sister was mowing the lawn today and had company from my parents dog Zen. Zen has an obsession with the lawn mower. He loves to run along side it, or in front trying to catch the grass as it shoots out. He sort of gets in the way. This is the same dog that has been hit multiple times because he also loves to chase trucks.

The times I have mowed my parents lawn I purposely keep Zen inside. Maiken was feeling like company I guess. Crazy dog.

And some more of my mom's flowers. There is definitely never a shortage of flowers at her house.

And now I'm off to enjoy sleep and tissues.

Practice Practice Practice

2011-05-24T21:45:00.004-06:00

Hopefully I won't go overboard posting pictures in the next little while, but I had a great hike practicing with my camera today. When I went shooting with Wade this weekend he recommended forcing myself to shoot in manual mode so that I have to learn the settings. It's tempting to switch it to auto, but I'm going to learn!

One of the great things about Utah is how close you are to nature. A very popular hike (bit too popular for my taste) that I have never been on is the Rock Canyon trail. It's really close which makes it ideal for after work. We actually had a nice evening so I took advantage. It was a great hike to have to go back and forth from sunny to shady shots and have to play with the settings. And luckily when I first started shooting I was still within cell range. A quick call to my dad to figure out the timer and another call to Wade for a review and I was ready to go.

It's not hard to know why it's called Rock Canyon. And growing up in Utah I think you have to have a least a small interest in geology having these kind of examples surrounding you.

This wasn't the best shot, but I'm so intrigued by this car a mile up the trail. There has to be a good story here.

The water is definitely flowing which gave me some chances to practice the soft water shots again. I haven't had time to try and find my tripod so I had to just use rocks. Balancing your camera on a rock, trying not to let it or yourself fall in the river does add another element to trying to take a picture. But a challenge makes it fun.

This spot was hard for me to tell what the shots were coming out like. I would like to try here again.

This spot I just want to scoop up and transport to my backyard.

Still learning. But considering this was the first time I've shot completely in manual, I'm pretty happy.

Sunday School

2011-05-23T20:56:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I tagged along with my friend Wade for his weekly Nature Sunday photo shoot. I'm really glad I went and I got to see some places up the canyon I've never been. Wade taught me some more things about the settings on my camera. And mostly what I learned was that I have a lot to learn. Luckily its something I enjoy practicing.

Its fun going with someone and taking pictures in the same spot and seeing how different your shots can end up looking. I was definitely off yesterday, my creative eyes were lacking. And looking at some of the pictures Wade took really made me rethink setting up the shots and honestly I wanted to go back out and try again.

One of the things he showed me how to do, is the fuzzy soft water shot. I've got the basics down, but need a lot more practice. And some more knowledge of my camera. Having a manual that was in english would help there. I can't say I'm thrilled with any of the shots I got, but this gives you an idea of the kind of thing we were working on. And hey, you have to have a starting point.

This one looked a lot better cropped, overall picture wise. But cropped it emphasized how out of focus it was. Wade gave me some tips on helping that too.

So if nothing else I feel a surge to go out and be creative. I really wanted to go on a short hike after work with the camera, but rain stopped that. Hopefully I'll get back out soon and get a little more practicing done.

Vacation Wrap-Up

2011-05-21T19:51:00.010-06:00

I feel like I have to apologize every year when I come back from vacation because its impossible for me to not post a ton of pictures. I just can't cut it down more than this! So deal. Or don't. I won't know.

This was the third year Will and I went out to see Britta and Tom and kids in Pennsylvania. They are great hosts and I always appreciate being welcomed into their home.

Thursday we went out to do some shopping with the Mennonite farmer where they got all the meat last year, and get things like raw milk, eggs and yogurt. I can verify that the raw milk is delish. And its a very pretty, peaceful little farm.

After that we headed out to the little man-made beach that they have gone to a few times. Except our luck would have it that they had drained the lake to clean it. So no water fun, but the kids still had a great time playing in the sand.

Sand castles are not complete without cannons

Afterward while walking down by the water Britta showed us the sign teaching you about all the snakes in the area, commenting that they had never seen any. So of course just then we see two snakes right at the edge of the water. We weren't too sad to not be in the water anymore. And with this as the view, I had no problems just spending some time on the beach.

Friday we made Will and I's first visit to Gettysburg. Although I was interested in going on past trips, I didn't think it would hold much interest for Will. That was before the army bug hit. We went at Will's pace since we were there for him, which meant we had the fastest time through the museum that Britta had experienced with guests. Mostly because Will's end goal was the gift shop. Where he did leave with a Civil War army guy set. But we did still get to see lots of weapons and cool army gear.

And then a short trip out to some of the battlefields and monuments. It was a cool misty rain day, seemed very fitting for the surroundings.

That night we drove into New York where my cousin Ruth very graciously let us stay while they were out of town. My first visit to Harlem. She lives on 5th Avenue and I heard she loves being able to tell people that, even if it is Harlem. (they live in the white building)

The next morning we met another cousin Rachel at the Central Park Zoo. While waiting we walked into the park a little ways and let the kids get some wiggles out on a large rock that overlooks a pond.

And of course Will found its crevices useful as barricades.

We had planned on coming back to the park to explore more on Sunday, but rain sent us home early instead. So it ended up that this was the only view I got of the park outside the zoo, but what a nice view. And I WILL make sure I get to see more in the future.

The first animals we saw ended up being some of the favorite, the sea lions. This guy was there to entertain. He posed up on the rock the entire time we were there while the others just swam around. How boring. Every once in awhile he would tilt his head, just so you knew he wasn't a statue, but it seemed very obvious he was playing it up for the crowd.

The next favorite for all the kids were the penguins. I wish I would have gotten a better shot, but again there were a few that were very good at entertaining the crowd. This one little guy kept swimming back and forth in front of Will playing with him behind the glass. Will lost track of him right before we left and left sulking that he couldn't say goodbye to his friend.

After the zoo we walked over to take the tram back to Rachel's house. They live on Roosevelt Island which I had never heard of. It's two miles long, 800 feet wide in the middle of the East River in between Manhattan and Queens. And it was really cool. Rachel said that she loves living there and that it feels like you are living in a small town, in the middle of a huge city. So onto the tram we go.

View of the island from the tram

View from the top of their apt building which has a really nice roof top patio

After Rachel graciously made us lunch, we went down and played at the park across the street. Back in Central Park while waiting to go into the zoo, Will and I had fashioned a sniper rifle out of sticks using long pieces of grass to tie it all together. Rachel had given us some string to make it more official and it immediately became a prize possession for Will. While at the park, he set it down on a bench and we later noticed that someone had taken it. Will was crushed. It was pretty sweet to see him giving his sob story to several kids at the park venting that he couldn't believe someone would take his rifle. So that is Will's first experience with New York. Even though we were on the very safe island, he still had his gun stolen. Lesson learned.

Later that night Britta and I went out to meet my friend Marty which I already wrote about. And thanks again, it really was a highlight of the trip!

Like I mentioned, Sunday's plan was to go back to Central Park, but a forecast of mostly rain had us pack things up. We did stop for lunch before leaving though to get one more taste of the city. Pizza. Ruth had suggested Patsy's, so off we went. It was a nice little restaurant which has a lot of New York history (one of the first pizzerias in the city) and one of the few remaining coal ovens.

The last two days of the trip ended up with a change of plans, but for a very delightful reason. Another sister Keeley had been working on a small island off of Virginia helping with a cat problem. This is an article about their project and she had some great stories. Along with lots of cat pee on her stuff. She had a few days before her flight back so Britta went and picked her up at the train station and she joined in on the fun.

We went down to Lancaster and visited the shop where Britta has been selling some of her craftiness.

We had yummy crepes for lunch and then walked around downtown and got some freshly made ice cream.

We were in Pennsylvania so of course I had to try the pretzel cone. The ice cream was wonderful.

The next day involved a lot of running around and driving for Britta who had two sisters leaving an hour apart at two different airports. I appreciate her extra effort for the mini family reunion. Thanks to everyone for making this a great vacation.

And yes there are more pictures on flickr. Because I have a photo problem.

Foto Friday

2011-05-21T02:03:00.005-06:00

Today was the due date for my nephew Luke who was stillborn on Christmas Eve. We had a balloon launch at the cemetery in remembrance of him. Its amazing how much of an affect a child can have on people in such a small time of existence. You are very loved little Luke. I wish your family comfort and peace, and lots of love.

Saturday Night After Dark

2011-05-15T17:31:00.011-06:00

We had a fun filled day on Saturday in New York and I'll catch up on the morning in a future post. But I needed to blog about the evening from my point of view because our night involved being a guest on Marty After Dark.

I've wanted to tag along on Marty's blog since I started following him on AGuyWalksInto365Bars.com. The opportunity came up on my visit to see Britta and Tom in Pennsylvania. My cousin Ruth was going to be out of town and very graciously allowed us to stay in their apartment while they were gone. So Saturday night Tom stayed and wrangled the kids and let Britta and I go out for the night.

Off to Chelsea to meet Marty. I'm really glad Britta was with me because I think I would have just stood and stared at subway maps a lot longer on my own. The London Tube seemed a lot less confusing. But we made it to Marty's house and the certified snackologist had a custom potato chip mixture waiting for us. It was delicious.

Marty has a very cool, very New York apartment. There was tons of stuff, but my favorite was this metal bird. I forgot to ask him if there was a story with it though.

I'm glad Britta was with me because I feel very lame on my pop culture knowledge. Because of Tom, Britta knew how rare this Beatles album was. And I guess if you're a true fan you will too.

Gumby is a frequent guest on Marty's blog, and I was surprised to see him banished to the corner.

Marty very graciously let us have a couple copies of the fanzine he used to write/publish, fishwrap. I can't wait to read them. I also later harassed him into signing my copy of his book The Boy Who Would Be a Fire Truck.

And off we go, out on the town. We walked over to the Old Town Bar for Cheeseburger Saturday Night. This bar was in the old opening segment of the David Letterman Show. Good taste of a New York bar.

Since becoming a fan of Marty's bar site, I've always wanted to be able to watch the behind the scenes stuff he would have to do to get his post. Especially the part of just walking up to strangers and asking them to take their picture. Maybe because that is so far away from my comfort zone. We did get to see that part first hand as he just walked over to a table of strangers and asked if he could take their picture.

As we were watching the interaction Britta and I talked about what we would do if some stranger came up and asked us to take our photo. I don't like having my photo taken by people I know, let alone someone I don't. I don't think I would be that willing. But these people were.

Marty's not as fond of having his own picture taken.

Britta was a little more willing to pose.

The bar is in a cool old building and has beautiful tin ceilings.

And a dumbwaiter that they actually use to get the food from the upstairs kitchen, and to send the dishes back up. I thought it was really cool. Marty said its the only one he has seen still working in NY. Our lovely waitress joined in for the shot.

After dinner Marty asked if we wanted to walk down and see the Flat Iron Building which was just a few blocks away. It took us a few extra blocks and asking a stranger to help find it, but we did. Marty had warned us that its hard to get a good picture at night because its not lit up at all. This was the only picture I could even get my camera to take.

The Empire State Building had really cool clouds right above it, but also something hard to photograph.

We had a great night and a great host to show us around a few blocks of the city. While we were out walking we talked about the rep that New York has of being an unfriendly place. Definitely not the experience we had and Marty felt the same way from the time he has lived there. New York was very open and accommodating to us. I can't say its a place I would want to live, but definitely a nice place to visit.

And just because its a Marty tradition, a closing bathroom shot.

Good Night New York. Thanks for the memories.

Foto Delay

2011-05-14T23:37:00.003-06:00

I missed my Foto Friday post last night because I was on my way into Harlem. I only have limited internet access and no way to upload photos right now. But I had an awesome night tonight with my sister and we hung out with my friend Marty and got to be part of Marty After Dark. I'll have a dueling blog for his post once I get back to regular computer access.

Thanks again for the great night thanks to Marty, Britta and Tom for being child wrangler while we went out. Looking forward to blogging about the trip soon!

Foto Friday

2011-05-06T23:42:00.005-06:00

Not a very exciting post today. Maybe I'm saving up my photo energy for vacation next week! The bad part about going on vacation for me is the stress leading up to getting things ready at work to be gone. Normally this is a time of year that is pretty easy for me to be gone, but we have started a new city-wide program that all goes through me. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how it works, so trying to explain it to others to cover for me, is a bit difficult. Oh well. By this time next week I'll be at my sister's in Pennsylvania hopefully relaxing.

Tonight my parents were at an art opening so Maiken and I took the kids to California Pizza Kitchen to use a gift card I won at work a few months ago. We started with a corn guacamole which I loved.

Then onto fish tacos which were also very good

Dinner wrapped up with their new dessert which we were the first ones to order, strawberry shortcake. It was so good I forgot to take a picture before we started eating.

We were at the mall, so we then went down to the indoor play area.
(rest of the pics are by Maiken, I was off trying to find stuff for the trip. shopping fail.)

The night ended with some serious Mother's Day crafting.

Till next week from back east!

Foto Friday

2011-04-29T23:59:00.009-06:00

It's two days until May and my mom's flower pots have snow in them instead of flowers. It might be the first time I've heard this in Utah, but our mountains really don't need anymore snow. This spring has been so weird that I'm interested to see what the summer is like. All I know is that this weather is affecting my mom's ability to plant her garden, which means my ability to benefit from her garden is being compromised. That is not a good thing.

When my parents moved to their current house almost seven years ago, I remember my mom being worried about all the birds that had been accustomed to being fed by her. It didn't take long till the new house had just as many birds benefiting from my mom's love for them. In this shot alone there are over 30 birds. My mom should have stock in bird seed.

On the way to my parents today I passed a field with six baby horses. Fields of baby animals are one of the best parts of spring but I felt bad for them as the snow was rolling in.

And on the horse subject, this horse lives down the street from my parents. When you walk by he comes running (trotting? galloping?) to the fence hoping you have a treat for him. This was the best picture I could get because he kept trying to eat my camera strap. Today I stopped and gave him a little grass and as he was leaving he started bucking and then did the horse equivalent of jumping in the air and clicking your heals. It was seriously the weirdest thing I've ever seen a horse do. I think he may have had mud in his hoofs, but who knows.

And on an Easter note wrap-up, one of Will's Easter gifts was a Star Wars watch like the one my little sister's roommate has. Will's favorite part of it, the fact that you can actually attach Lego's to it. Cause this is the most useful watch I know I have ever seen.

No, not enough things on your wrist? How about adding another clone so the other one has someone to battle?

And yes he had to change into his Star Wars pajamas before he could wear the watch.

Leaf Reviewed

2011-04-23T20:00:00.006-06:00

I think that it was very fitting that I finished this book the week of Earth Day, because it is a great reminder of our connection to the earth. Or at least the kind of connection I want in my life. Refuge was written starting with the flood of the Great Salt Lake in Utah in 1983. The author, Terry Tempest Williams' place of refuge was the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the northern end of the Salt Lake. The refuge was completely flooded and abandoned during the flood years. The same year that she lost her place of escape, she learned that her mother was dying of cancer.

This book is a very personal, very touching correlation between the loss of her natural comfort and escape, and the loss of her mother. This book has a lot of information about birds, a bit much for me actually, I think my mom would really enjoy that part of it. But it didn't take away from the things that I loved about it.

There is a great chapter that compares the changes in bird species to a lot of issues in our society. "What makes our relationship to starlings even more curious is that we loathe them, calling in exterminators because we fear disease, yet we do everything withing our power to encourage them as we systematically erase the specialized habitats of specialized birds." One of the things this chapter made me think about was my friend Marty who has mentioned many times on his blog about the influx of chain stores in New York City. Some want unique, specialized options but for the most part we do everything we can to drive those kinds of businesses out of business. We seem to live in a society that doesn't understand cause and effect.

From a discussion with a Kenyan friend "Because we have forgotten our kinship with the land our kinship with each other has become pale. We shy away from accountability and involvement. We choose to be occupied, which is quite different from being engaged. In America, time is money. In Kenya, time is relationship. We look at investments differently." This chapter talked about how the further we get from things like growing our own food, the less we see how our other choices in life affect the earth and those in our community. And how we get further away from being a part of a community. "What an African woman nurtures in the soil will eventually feed her family. Likewise, what she nurtures in her relations will ultimately nurture her community. It is a matter of living the circle."

By the end of the book, Terry becomes the seventh member of her family to be part of what she refers to as the Clan of One-Breasted Women. Terry loses her mother followed by both of her grandmothers to breast cancer, before having her own breast removed. Terry's family grew up in southern Utah which means that they were most likely exposed to nuclear testing which was done in the 50's. Terry was arrested at the Nevada Test Site as part of a peaceful protest with a group of Shoshone women. She feels that women in general feel a need to protect the land for their future generations of children.

If you feel a connection to the earth, or long for that connection, I think you would enjoy this book.

The other odd timing thing about this book is the fact that the 1983 floods are all over the news. We have had an unusually wet spring and have an above normal snow pack. If the weather warms up suddenly, we will have flooding that they say could be compared to 83. I have a small river that runs through my backyard. I feel very lucky that the berms built along the river at that time, are still there, because I have never seen it as high as it is now. There are other areas that are already having to deal with flooding from the ground water being so saturated and rising.

In one part of the book Terry talks about having their church service interrupted and everyone told to go home and change, and report to downtown Salt Lake City to help sandbag allowing the river to divert down the streets. State Street was turned into a river during the flooding with a temporary bridge added for people to cross the street. These pictures have been on the news, so its been cool to see the photos associated with the stories I read.

The part that has been really interesting about the floods being brought up again while reading this book, is the obvious cycle that things like this go through. And how we seem to forget that, or ignore it. Maybe because of our lack of connection with the land we live in. Most of the areas severely affected by the floods, have been built up, choosing to forget the past. We want the land to bend and change to our desires. But in the end, we will not have the final say. Nature will.

Foto Friday

2011-04-22T23:54:00.003-06:00

In honor of Earth Day, we should all go hug a tree

Art and Pizza

2011-04-19T23:18:00.007-06:00

I should really be in bed, but I'm on a good night high and wanted to write about it because I will have forgotten most of what I haven't already forgotten by morning. I need some memory work.

My bff from high school Becky, asked if I wanted to go with her to a lecture by the artist Christo at the University of Utah. I won't pretend that I knew who she was talking about right away, but if you don't know him by name, you might know some of his work. He and his wife (who died in 2009) have been doing temporary installation art for 50 years.

Most of their works involve large pieces of fabric draped or covering things. The most recent one in the US was The Gates in Central Park.

He is currently working on the approval process for Over the River in Colorado which will be six miles of fabric suspended above the Arkansas River.

He is supposed to find out this month if they are approved to go through with the next steps in making it happen, hoping for completion in 2014. If it happens, I will do everything I can to go see it.

Christo went through a slide show of several works and explained the process that they go through. Most projects go through several phases of denial before getting permission to go forward. The Over the River project has been in the works for 18 years. But that's not even the longest. A project in Europe took over 26 years to get approved and went through two mayors being assassinated before there was one that would give the go ahead. He pointed out that the assassinations had nothing to do with his group. The process for getting a work approved is extremely political. The Over the River project has even involved a specific chapter being added to the Bureau of Land Management code book specifically dealing with art, because no one knew how to address the situation.

I wasn't expecting them to allow photos, which they did during the Q&A section, or I would have brought my nice camera. This was the best I could do, but we did have good seats.

I could write a lot about what he talked about, but would probably be more than people would want to read, and its late so I'll just touch on a few points that stuck out to me. I wish I'd had a tape recorder so I could remember it all, but I probably wouldn't be able to understand most of it. For someone that has lived in the US since 1964, the guy has a very strong accent.

First it was very touching every time he mentioned his wife, and partner Jeanne-Claude. Someone asked how they were able to work together everyday and the first thing he said was "love". He talked about their different personalities that complimented each other even if they argued a lot about projects, but said that Jeanne-Claude would always answer that question with "If Christo had been a dentist, I would have become a dentist." If was very easy to see the combined passion they had for their work. And even if I didn't know much about the guy before tonight, its easy to become very interested in someone who has such a passion for their work.

They do not do any commission pieces or accept any grant money or outside funding. All of their projects are funded through the sale of their art. They did not want to ever be influenced by someone else's ideas or visions for their projects. He mentioned that he could tell you a story about every piece they have done and the process of inspiration to do them.

One person asked if there were any pieces that he wished could have lasted longer and stayed up. (they average being up for two weeks) He said no. He said that they reason they are special is because they are temporary. That there is a sense when you are there that you will never experience this again, and no one will. There are pictures and videos from each of the pieces, but it will never be experienced in that way again. That is one of the reasons they are so moving in person. And the reason I am now very eager to watch the progress of the Colorado project.

The last question of the night was a student who asked what advice he had for young artists. Christo said he could not give him advice on art. He said that he never accepted an invitation to be an art juror because he never felt that he was in a place to judge art. He talked about how art should be something that you do because you need to. For you. That if other people enjoy your art, that is a great bonus. But the point of making art should be what you get out of it. The only advice he could give him was to do what you are passionate about, but that no one else can help you know what that is.

Afterward while Becky and I were talking Becky, who is a high school photography teacher, said that her students really struggle when she asks them to do something new that is out of the ordinary. They want to know why, or what they will get out of it. They want an explanation for everything. They don't seem to understand doing something for just the experience itself. Those thoughts really stuck with me tonight. The idea of doing something just for the joy you get out of it, and doing something just for the experience of going through it, and just seeing what happens. I think those are ideas that need to be in my life more.

After the lecture we walked across campus and got pizza at The Pie. I've never been there before and I think I have a new favorite pizza place. Awesome. And the one we went to is a cool underground bar with walls covered in graffiti.

I think often that I would be happier living in Salt Lake. And then I convince myself that its just a perception and it wouldn't be that different. And then I go do something there and realize, no, its just a cooler place than Utah County.

Cheers to a night of old friends, good food and inspiration to experience life.

Tamales

2011-04-18T21:11:00.007-06:00

One of the many benefits to living close to my parents, is being able to regularly benefit from my mom's amazing cooking. I've mentioned them here before, but one of my family's new favorites is tamales. There are two things that make my mom's tamales better than most I have ever tried. First, seasoned masa. The masa can be very bland on its own and seasoned it adds just that little extra flavor. Second, is the masa to meat ratio. A lot of times with tamales you can have a bite where you wonder if there even is meat in it. My mom has the perfect ratio for the blend of the masa with the meat.

Will has recently discovered their goodness after finally being willing to try them last month. Every night since then that we have gone to my parents, he has asked if we were going to have tamales and so we had them again this past weekend. He likes them so much we are going to have to narrow down his birthday meal this year because I told him he couldn't have salmon and tamales.

And now a picture path of the making of tamales.

I've been saying that if I had someone to make them for, I might actually attempt making them on my own. Guess that time has come.

Foto Friday

2011-04-15T13:56:00.003-06:00

I realize I'm probably a weird parent for taking a photo of this. Will was riding bikes with his best friend Landon last weekend and a group of older boys came by with their bikes. Will got ditched by his friend for the cool older kids. It was one of the moments as a parent when you realize that as much as you'd like to be able to, you're not going to be able to protect your child from the pains of growing up. So I sat back and watched. And took photos.

The moving truck is here, Landon's family is moving several hours away this weekend. I'm really going to miss their family. Its been so nice having someone for Will to play with just in the next building. They spend every weekend running back and forth between our places and its something I'll miss as much as Will is going to. It's also the first time I've had neighbors that I actually felt comfortable going and borrowing eggs or butter from when I was short in the middle of a recipe. We've gone through a lot of neighbors while living here, I'm hoping these guys won't be the last great ones.

Sniper attacks on the moving guys (who luckily just played along)

Ready to go outside and fight the bad guys

Steak Attack

2011-04-12T18:57:00.002-06:00

I have a new restaurant on my favorites list, Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks. Oh man they are wonderful! The bread is amazing, the meat is great, the peppers, onions, cheese, just a perfect combo.

I would have taken a photo of my lunch, but I'm too embarrassed to do such things. But trust me, awesome. And to make it feel a little more like Philly, they sell TastyKake and Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer (on tap and bottled), which is the best stuff ever. And my co-worker from PA has given his authentic approval.

So if you are craving an awesome sandwich in Utah, try them out. And as soon as cheesesteaks become good for you, I will be visiting weekly.

Orderville Visit - Wrap Up

2011-04-09T23:29:00.004-06:00

Just a wrap up of some random other pics from the trip.

Buddies

The birthday boy

I always have to get a picture with the fake cop because I find it amusing. At least he was in a different spot this time.

Tibetan food. Wow did it take a long time, but it was delicious.

Hiking

Teaching

Goodnight

Foto Friday - Orderville Visit - The Desert

2011-04-08T15:33:00.005-06:00

I've never liked the desert. I prefer green mountain valleys. Recently I got a package from a girl that lives in Kansas. She mentioned in her letter that the longer she has lived in Kansas the more she has come to appreciate it for what it is, instead of disliking it for what it isn't. Instead of focusing on the fact that its not beautiful mountains, she focuses on the expansive fields of sunflowers in the summer.

I feel like that statement really applies to how I'm trying to change my feelings about the desert and see the beauty that is there, instead of just wishing there were aspen trees everywhere. We didn't get the chance to do much sight seeing or hiking on this trip, but I was still able to see some beautiful areas just by climbing the hill across the street, and on the picnic visit at my sister's work. And my baby sister Alex just got a job there too, so bring on the Best Friends love!

Orderville Visit - Animals

2011-04-07T21:29:00.010-06:00

The animal side of the Orderville family is worthy of their own post. There are more animals in that house than people.

Lets start with the dogs. Lola is the matriarch of the family and was the first dog anyone in my family had. If you can't find her, check under a pile of blankets. Lola will go crazy when you first get there until she gives you a kiss. Then she will go back to her blanket pile and you'll forget she's in the room. Sadly they got confirmation while we were there that the suspicious spots on her side are most likely skin cancer. I hope this girl has several more good years ahead of her.

Jackie is the scratch forcer. He will lay on top of you until he has received enough attention. And he's one of Will's best friends. I wonder some times if Will likes dogs more than he likes people, or if he even realizes dogs are not people. Had a situation this visit that helped add to that theory. Will and Jackie were playing and Will must have stepped on his foot or tail or something because Jackie snapped at Will. Something he has never done. He immediately licked Will after and then ran and hide because Will was upset. Will ran over to the couch crying, sat with his arms folded and declared that he was not talking to Jackie until he apologized. Luckily they made up later.

The last dog addition is quite an addition. Iggy is a little camera shy so this was the only photo I got of him. He did warm up to us a lot more this trip even coming up to Will looking for scratches. He is the definition of a gentle giant. You have never met a more quite and peaceful dog.

The extra dog on the visit was my parents dog Zen. I didn't get any photos of him from the trip, but here is in his spot at my parents, making sure there are no intruders (or other dogs) roaming the neighborhood.

And if four dogs is not enough for one house, lets add in some cats. (I have no idea the gender of the kitties so I apologize to their owners)

This is Boshty (that's my best guess at the spelling. also known as non-pirate kitty)

Pirate Kitty has a fondness for the table. But come on he's a pirate kitty, he gets what he wants. He does have a name other than Pirate Kitty but I can never remember it and I just like Pirate Kitty so much more.

Sassafras is the bathroom kitty. If she's not in the towel cupboard or the tub, she is circling your legs while you're in there trying to get you to pet her. Its ummm.....an experience.

She's also fond of belly rubs

You will fight all of the kitties for a place to sit down, and here Snacks is taking his turn

The newest addition is Sandwhich who showed up on Halloween. I've always loved short-haired black cats and Sands is the most friendly of the bunch. I even got some midnight cuddling from him.

Not featured is Grumbly. She had a run in with Zen when they first moved to Kanab and she chooses to not make an appearance when we are around. And that concludes the look into the animal world that is the house in Orderville.

Orderville Visit - Dog Town

2011-04-05T21:58:00.005-06:00

I'm going to try and not post all 45 pictures I narrowed down from the couple hundred I took on our weekend trip to Orderville for my brother-in-laws birthday. But I like taking photos, so I'm going to break it up into some smaller posts each day and then put more up on my flickr account.

The first batch is going to be from Saturday. We had planned to go out and do some hiking, wandering but my niece woke up sick. So sadly Lucia and Maiken stayed home. Instead of the hiking/wandering Will and I tagged along with my mom, Willie and Alex to go have a picnic lunch with my sister Keeley at her work.

Even though I talk about it a lot, in case you are the one person that doesn't know, Keeley works at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. If you've ever seen Dog Town on National Geographic Channel, that's where she works. And here we are at Dog Town.

We picked up Keeley and drove to Angel's Landing, one of the spots on the back side of the sanctuary. Its a beautiful little spot with wonderful views that look out over some of 33,000 acres. The only sad part of the visit was that I wasn't able to find Curly my horse buddy. I'll have to have Keeley find out which spot he's been moved to next time so I can say hi again.

And a picnic shot for Marty

Foto Friday

2011-04-01T22:18:00.004-06:00

We are in Orderville for the weekend visiting my two youngest sisters. So far the sewer is backing up and the cap to one of the air mattresses was left home. It adds to the memories right.

Buffalo burgers at the Buffalo Bistro for dinner - had to include a pic for Marty.

Will's in heaven

Jackie is, well Jackie

Festival of Colors

2011-03-27T00:36:00.001-06:00

Three years ago we went with my friend Jenny to the Festival of Colors at the Hari Krishna Temple. That was the first year it had caught on as a sudo spring break for Utah college students. It went from a fun event, to a crazy event. Because of that we stayed away the last two years.

I really wanted to go again and instead of two times for the throwing of the colors, they were doing it every two hours. I figured that would spread out the crowds a lot and felt it was worth trying to go again. They also have several places you can take shuttle buses so you don't have to worry about the nightmare of trying to just get there.

So Maiken, Lucia, Will and I went for it. We got to the shuttle parking lot just as a bus was getting ready to leave. There was only one seat left, so we said we would wait, figuring there would be another bus soon. We should have taken the one seat. It ended up that there was only one bus making rounds on that stop. It took about 30 minutes round trip. Its less than two miles away.

It wouldn't have been so bad other than it was cold. And windy. And the kids were anxious. We finally got to the temple grounds and made our way up to the hill. Because of the multiple color throwings and people that don't care about waiting for the designated times, most of the people were already covered. The wind helped spread everything around too.

They were scheduled to throw again at 5 and we were there about ten minutes before, good timing. I had read online that they would countdown before each throw, and they were asking people to please wait until those times. Well right at 5 people started throwing. I told our little group to wait, because it wasn't the real time yet. We got a little color on us, but not a ton.

And then we waited, and waited and they weren't throwing. So I said the hell with it and we threw our colors and made our way back to wait for the return bus. While waiting in line for the bus they had the real throw, at 5:35 I'm glad we didn't wait. It was just too cold. And Will didn't want to be there in the first place.

So we wait for the bus. There was a bus right when we got to the line, but we were about 20 people back from making it on. So we waited in the cold wind with shivering kids. Well Will was, Lucia was content just running around. So after another 30 minutes the next bus comes, yet it doesn't stop at the front of the line. It stops just behind us. In situations like that I think you see peoples true colors. It didn't matter to the majority of the people behind us that we had obviously been waiting longer than they had, you know it being a line and all. And we were all cold. We all wanted to leave. But they didn't care.

The crowd started rushing the bus even before it was clear. I went way out of my comfort level and yelled out, "hey do you think maybe we could follow the line that has been waiting for 30 minutes?!" Several other people in front of us muttered, yeah, thanks, exactly etc., but it didn't really stop any of the people behind us from pushing towards the bus. Finally some guy yelled out to let the little shivering boy on and so people actually waited for Will and I to get on. Will totally came through for us!

It will probably take a few more years for me to get up the desire to go again. But it is an interesting experience. I just wish it would go back to more of the fun hippy crowd, and less of the obnoxious college crowd.

You'll probably have to click on the picture to see anything, but in the middle you can see what the color throwing looks like from 9 miles away at my parents house. Look for the pink cloud

At the temple

Best picture ever

Looking down to the mosh pit, no way I would have gone down there

Aftermath. Guess which of these children enjoyed themselves

Trying to keep Will warm waiting for the bus back

The color throw cloud while waiting for the bus

My hair ended up being the only part that really got any color

Foto Friday

2011-03-25T19:21:00.009-06:00

The Utah spring got me again. I saw the violets in the lawn

We took walks to the park

The rabbits had put on their roller skates. That's the sign that spring was surely here.

And then we had this today. And there is supposed to be more tomorrow

So we stayed inside. Except to take Will to the dr and get the last of his kindergarten shots. Which of course meant I was the meanest mom in the world. Its amazing how a new set of Legos helped change that though.

Foto Friday

2011-03-18T18:51:00.011-06:00

Most weeks I'll be honest, my Foto Friday project ends up being, crap its Friday what can I go take pictures of. Instead of what its intended purpose was, to get me to take pictures during the week. So this week I gave myself a goal. I was going to take a picture of the sunset from the same spot (as much as possible) at the same time, and hopefully come up with some good shots.

Well, I got some ok ones, but what I really got was a lot of frustration. For one thing, it took me till the third day to realize that if I had waited about 15 minutes, I would get more of the colors I was hoping to achieve. And so wouldn't you know it, after I figured that I didn't have one more night that led to a good shot.

I guess that is part of the learning process especially when taking pictures outdoors. For one you can never rely on the weather. And when it comes to lighting you usually have such a limited amount of time, its kind of about luck. And I guess practice just so you can learn from your mistakes.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday it rained for several hours. I loved the rain, but it meant the sky was just dark, no sunset.

While walking out to my car Thursday after work, there was the weirdest cloud with an almost perfect straight line across the sky. It was just odd.

Thursdays I go pick up Will so I wouldn't be able to take a shot in the same spot. On the drive back I started thinking of where I could pull off and take a shot at the same time. It was getting near the time and I wasn't in a great place, but I knew I couldn't wait so I got off the freeway. I debated about which way to go, then changed my mind went the other way and there only ended up being about 5 mins of color and they happened when I was stuck at a stop light. I so badly wanted to just jump out of my car in the middle of the road, but I wasn't feeling quite that desperate. By the time I found a spot that wasn't blocked by buildings, the beautiful colors were gone. At least there were some unusual clouds so it wasn't a complete waste.

I was hoping that tonight I could end with something dramatic, but it was overcast all day and it just got dark, no sun. I guess a fitting end to my experiment. I definitely will try it again, and hopefully get a little bit more of what I was looking for. Not a complete waste though.

Storm

2011-03-12T23:57:00.005-07:00

I love rain storms. I wish we had a lot more of them. But maybe they are so special because they aren't that common. Besides the frequency, the one thing I don't like is how short they are. If you're in a rain storm in Utah, just wait a few minutes, it will pass. I was at my parents house tonight and at least got to enjoy it for a little while.

We can see the storm coming from the north, lighting and thunder the best kind of storms.

It was odd but after the storm reached us it actually lightened up the sky. I got just a bit of a rainbow.

I wasn't able to capture it well from the porch, but a down pour was going on right after this shot. And yet just turning around, this was the sky. Another thing about storms here, they can leave a whole part of town completely untouched.

And a few minutes later, blue skies replaced the gray.

And there sure are a lot of power lines surrounding my parents house!

Foto Friday

2011-03-11T22:59:00.009-07:00

Today it felt like spring. My second favorite season. The signs are starting to show.

The snow has melted and Zen is helping clean up the yard.

The trees are starting to bud

The christmas tree sits waiting on the porch for the first run to the dump

Flowers begin to gather awaiting planting

And because of immense popularity at christmas, an early preview of the fruits of my mom's labors which usually appear in the fall.

I eagerly await the continuation of the season

Soup

2011-03-05T11:54:00.009-07:00

This is the most expensive bowl of soup I've ever had, it was well worth it. For one thing it was beef stew by Marvelous Catering so it was wonderful, but more importantly it was for a good cause. Last night I took Will to the Food & Care Coalition's Bowls for Humanity. The annual fundraiser has local artists and students donate pottery bowls. For the purchase of a bowl you get a free bowl of soup.

I've wanted to go every year and always forget about it, but luckily saw a reminder this week. The event started at 6:00, we got there around 7:30 and there were only about 10 bowls left. Luckily there was one that I really liked so I still got to participate and walk away with a beautiful bowl.

On the way there I was trying to explain to Will what we were doing and how we were going to a place that is there to help people that don't have any food to eat. After discussing it for awhile Will very somberly asked me if we would ever not have food to eat. I feel very blessed that I was able to tell him no, I don't think that is something we will ever have to worry about.

We are surrounded by family and friends that would step in and help us. Even if it was just a couch or floor to stay on, I don't ever have that fear of not having a warm place to sleep and a good meal. And I actually get more than that every week in an amazing meal at my parents.

I want to just express my thankfulness for what I have and the ability to give a little bit back to others.

Foto Friday

2011-03-04T16:58:00.005-07:00

Now that its March I might want to consider taking down my Christmas angel

I was walking around outside trying to see if there was something I could take photos of. There is a field sort of area behind our building and I decided to investigate. Part of my tree thing is that I also have a thing for everything wood. A random collection of wood found behind our building.

I can't wait till spring to be able to go on adventures a little further away than my backyard.

Foto Friday

2011-02-25T17:23:00.003-07:00

This has been my life on the weekends. Mini army guys EVERYWHERE. When I told Will they couldn't just stay up in the middle of the kitchen his response was, but they are in a battle mom. Oh sorry, I didn't realize. He has also decided the duplo legos can come out again, because they make good rocket launchers. They had been put away because only babies play with duplo.

Monday I had the day off for the holiday and I took Will and his friend Landon on a walk to the park. We cross Hobble Creek on the way there which always leads to some stick throwing. I just liked the contrast between the grass and water here.

At the park the kids decided I was the enemy so they ran when I tried to take photos, but I managed to get a few good ones.

Last week was a little bit of hope for spring. But then we woke up to this this morning.

This is a good example of early spring in Utah. If there is a nice day, enjoy it. Because you never know what tomorrow will bring. I guess you could say the same thing about life.

Foto Friday

2011-02-18T17:45:00.008-07:00

I've been playing a little with my camera. And what I have found out so far is, I'm going to need to do a LOT more before I understand what the hell I'm doing. My dad gave me a few tips and some basics of the camera.

Last night I went to dinner with my friend Becky who just happens to teach high school photography. During dinner she showed me a few more of the features of the camera and attempted to teach me a little about things like choosing shutter speeds and aperture settings. We then went outside and I played around a little with lighting things, before it got too cold and forced us in our cars. Again its definitely going to take me some time to play around with things to understand any of it. But its fun to playing with it for now.

Foto Friday

2011-02-12T00:18:00.002-07:00

I finally took my new camera out of the box. My dad showed me enough to start playing and hooked me up with some accessories. Now I just need to find the time and energy to start clicking.

Foto Friday

2011-02-04T22:56:00.005-07:00

I got the body of my new camera, but not the lens yet. I've had a very busy week and haven't even had the chance to take it out of the box. Maybe next week. So more random for today.

This right here is some high quality parenting

I got my hair cut a new way today and colored a new way. I love, love the color. I tried to take a pic, but I couldn't get one I liked. This gives you a glimpse at the new color. Its more of a red brown than I had before.

Additional randomness, in this pic if you look close enough, you can see the little white dot that appears every day by my eye. It just wipes off, but will return in the exact same spot the next day.

And because I haven't grown tired of talking about my shoulder, here is the latest. In case you don't read my facebook page, this week I had needles stuck in my shoulder. They are still there. The best way to describe it is that it is similar to acupuncture, but they stay in your arm. I have to keep them in for three days. They don't look like much, all you see is a little metal ring that sits on my skin. Coming down from the ring is a small needle poking into my skin. I have four of them circling the injured area.

Its a weird feeling because I can't feel the needle itself, but my arm really aches. I can't wait to take them out tomorrow and see if I feel a difference. I said this on facebook already, but as weird as this seems I'm really glad to be going to a dr that tries different things instead of just giving me pain pills and telling me to let it heal. I know several people with lasting problems because of shoulder injuries. Hopefully mine won't be lasting.

Foto Friday

2011-01-28T14:32:00.004-07:00

Well I found out Wednesday that the pain in my shoulder was from a torn rotator cuff muscle, the result of a fall on icy steps several weeks ago. Although it had been bothering me for weeks, it was aggravated by taking off my coat of all things. After a painful weekend last week, and some progress on the pain, it was re-aggravated by high-fiving our 6 ft chipmunk mascot Zippy while filming a skit for the latest episode of our work cable channel show about our department. Don't ask me for a link to the show, which isn't up yet, because if you have any desire to see it, you'll have to do the detective work on your own. Lets just say I now have a new answer to, what's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done.

Luckily my tear is minor and the chiropractor thinks it should heal on its own. So its ice packs, ibuprofen, no high-fives, and waiting. Waiting is not something I'm good at. I also have this awesome blue V on my shoulder for the next 5 days. When the dr told me it was BYU blue, I told him I hoped it wouldn't burn my skin.

I really have no idea the purpose of it, although I assume its supposed to be giving some sort of support to the muscle. I wish it gave my arm some sort of super power, when in reality what it does is give me the random sensation that something is stuck to my arm, and then I remember, oh yeah something is stuck to my arm.

In other photo related news, my dad convinced me to use part of my tax refund and break down and finally buy an SLR camera which I have wanted for a long time. He found me a beginner used model on Ebay that will be here shortly. So maybe in the future I'll re-find the motivation to take the kind of foto friday photos I'd originally planned on, instead of just randomness. First he'll have to help teach me to use it though!

Matter of opinion

2011-01-23T14:56:00.002-07:00

Friday night we were watching America's Funniest Home Videos, because that is how exciting my life is. Sidenote: not sure there is anything lamer than the comments they come up with for those shows. So there is a segment about dolls. Hoped to find the clip online, but couldn't. There is a boy about 7 or 8 very excitedly opening a present. It ends up being an unclothed barbie, guessing a sisters toy. He stops, looks at the camera like, this can't really be my gift. Throws the barbie across the room and then starts to cry. Maiken and I look at each other and I say, that is soooo Will! We both turn to look at Will. He has a very serious look on his face and says, that's not funny.

Which of course just made us laugh. Last night as we were going to bed he brought it up again and asked why we thought that boy crying was funny. I tried to explain that it wasn't that he was crying, it was the whole situation. He told me again, he did not think it was funny. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about him being a prank puller thats for sure.

Foto Friday

2011-01-21T17:17:00.003-07:00

Today I needed Will to tag along with me to get some work stuff done. I told him if he was good we could stop by the army surplus store. You'd have thought I took the kid to Disneyland.

I always thought that a form a parental torture would be me having a very girly little girl that loved pink and princesses. This might be worse.

Foto Friday

2011-01-14T23:51:00.005-07:00

Last weekend we took the kids to Incredible Pizza, an arcade plus buffet. The food was incredibly bad. We went specifically because we saw they had mini bowling and thought the kids would have fun with that. We thought wrong. At least with Will. He kept asking me when it was going to be over. And Maiken and I decided that mini bowling is much harder.

Looking at the scores, player 1 was Will, player 2 Lucia, player 3 combo of Maiken and I. Lucia obviously got the hang of it a bit better. When Will and I went a few months ago he beat me but we were not on even playing fields. He had the bumpers, I didn't. In this case Maiken and I have no excuse.

ETA: The thing that irritates me the few times I have taken Will to such a place is that you spend $20 playing games to get tickets which in the end allow you to purchase something you could have gotten 10 of at the dollar store. Now if Will just saw the value in having fun playing the games, worth it. But no, when you tell him he does not have enough tickets to get another one of the plastic army men (that he has 100 of at home) suddenly it was the biggest waste of the day and the last hour of fun disappears from memory. Ahhh, childhood.

Tonight we went to my cousin Lisa's wedding reception. Wow my little cousin got married! She seems so young and yet I think she is the exact same age I was when I got married. And small world moment, when I walked in I saw an old employee of mine that I haven't seen in about 4 years. I went and asked her who she knew and it turns out the groom is her 1st cousin. The bride is my 1st cousin. Very small world. I wish you many happy memories Lisa and Court.

12 Days of Christmas Ornaments

2011-01-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

This post is mainly for my dad Monte. Years ago my sister Britta and I made my mom a set of felt ornaments representing the 12 days of Christmas. Sadly a few have been lost, these are what she has left. Luckily she does still have my favorites.

Partridge in a Pear Tree - This one is actually one my mom made when I was young. Ours was the same, but it doesn't seem to be around.

Three French Hens - We weren't sure what a french hen looked like, but berets make everything french.

Five Gold Rings

Six Geese a Laying

Seven Swans a Swimming

Nine Ladies Dancing - This was one of my favorites that Britta thought up

Ten Lords a Leaping - Another favorite. It took us a lot of time to figure out something to do for the lords a leaping. It was right before the 2002 Olympics in Utah and we came up with the pole vaulter for the leaper.

Twelve Drummers Drumming - In high school Britta and I were in the bagpipe band. I played the pipes and she played the drums, sadly we were never in the same year. So she made a Scottish drummer and I made a piper for the eleven day. Sadly I couldn't find the piper.

We have both commented that it would be a lot of fun to make these sets again, but they took a LOT of time. Maybe we will at least get full sets made for ourselves sometime.

Foto Friday

2011-01-07T16:20:00.000-07:00

Playing a little photo catch-up. My dad spent a lot of time getting me a computer to use after mine died. But it is having a bit of a slow problem regarding the internet. Enough so that I would never even dare to try posting on it. So I'm catching up while I have my son's computer here. Yes I do realize how sad that sentence is.

Now that Christmas is past, I can post the projects I finished. The one I was most excited about was a Zombie Dorthy doll for my niece Ella. For those that don't read my sister Britta's blog, you will have to first check out this picture that my niece drew of Zombie Dorthy. My mom had the great idea that someone should make her a doll based off of her drawing and I decided to take the challenge. I was very happy with the results, and from what I heard Ella was too.

About 6 months ago I had the very ambitious goal to make sock creatures for all of my nieces and nephews. That did not even come close to happening. I got one done. And since Ella was getting a doll, her sister Sophie got the one sock creature I did finish.

I still wanted to make something for the rest of the kids. But by the time I got the other stuff done it was almost Christmas, so I needed something fast. A girl at my work made us these cute little mice ornaments. You squeeze their cheeks and get a kiss. A hershey kiss that is. Kind of cheesy for my tastes (no pun intended) but I figured the kids would think they were cute. Will has decided that he can only eat pieces of candy that the mouse can pick up with its mouth, so I think he at least liked them.

Then it was Christmas

Then New Year's Eve at the mall

Couldn't resist posting this

Then visiting with lots of family. And getting some amazing chocolates straight from France. Benefit of having family living abroad!

And amid all that, Will lost his first tooth! It took us 3 days to remember to put it under his pillow, but he is now the proud owner of a dollar bill to add to his new piggy bank.

And so ends another year...

Leaf Reviewed

2010-12-30T13:45:00.005-07:00

Yep I actually finished another book! Computer died completely which left me some spare time. Imagine what I could do if I never got on the computer again. But all my friends are on the computer so that would be sad.

On to the book. The Boy Who Would Be a Fire Truck - True-Life Tales From a Working Class Writer by Marty Wombacher. I met Marty online on a website we both frequent. Shortly after I started to read his daily blog, A guy walks into 365 bars, (which is almost finished) his friend Gidget put up a chapter of the book on her blog. Its amazing this circle of interwebs.

I'll admit that one of the things I loved about his description of the start of summer in the 60's was that it reminded me a lot of the movie A Walk on the Moon, which is one of my all time favorites. I loved the chapter and really wanted to read the whole book. And six months later, I now have.

At four years old Marty told his mom he wanted to be a fire truck when he grew up. She told him that people don't grow up to be fire trucks, they grow up to be adults. Marty didn't like the idea of that and decided that he in no way needed to grow up to be an adult. The book is a series of essays from Marty's life. As an online review said "Wombacher's life is unique in the fact that he's had small doses of fame, but he is not famous." Reading the book I actually felt like, wow I've never really had anything exciting happen to me. Not in a dis on my life kinda way, but lets just say Marty and I have had very different lives. And yet there were still things that made me stop and re-read them because they struck a chord with me.

After flying to NY to be interviewed by Jane Pauley on The Today Show he said "That was my first time in New York and while we didn't have time to do much sightseeing, I remember feeling like I fit in. Something I never really felt in Peoria." I could have written that same line after my trip to London. Felt exactly the same way just walking around the city, like I fit in in a way I never had felt before. Sometimes life is less about what's different between us, and more about those things that bond us together into little groups.

The book has great stories of living in New York, being a writer, the jobs that paid the bills while being a writer, and a very real bond between a brother who passed away. In the end the book made me smile, and I can't think of a better thing to say about it. Marty, if I ever get back to NY (which is a possibility since I DO have family in Brooklyn), I'll meet you at the Stoned Crow with my copy of the book to be signed.

Foto Friday

2010-12-24T22:43:00.003-07:00

This month has been a hard one. I seem to be surrounded by people suffering and dealing with loss. I can't say I'm really in the Christmas spirit this year. Not having Will here tonight doesn't help with that. Another loss today and my heart feels more sorrow than joy. But it does make you appreciate what you have. What you love. And I guess maybe that is part of the spirit. So tonight I wish that you all are surrounded by those you love. And if you can't be surrounded, I hope they are in your heart and that you are able to feel their love. Merry Christmas. To my little army bug and all of you.

No Foto Friday

2010-12-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

My home computer is dead. And I woke up with a case of the I don't cares. So we will return to regular programming next week. Hopefully.

Foto Friday

2010-12-10T15:50:00.003-07:00

Thanks to my little foot incident, I have become my parents.

Wrap up love in a hug

2010-12-07T21:29:00.002-07:00

Things happen in life that just don't make sense. Life seems unfair. Cruel. And there just isn't an answer for why or how. Yet times like that make you cling to things that you do understand. Things that bring you comfort and peace. And maybe that is the beauty that can be found in those moments.

A co-workers wife was killed in a car accident yesterday. They have two kids. We weren't especially close but from those who were I've heard stories about how their marriage was the kind of thing that you wish for. They adored each other and were each others life. Its just a horribly sad and tragic situation.

And there isn't anything that you can really do to make it better. It makes me wish that I was closer to him. That I could just show up on his doorstep and offer to help. As much as I have issues with the LDS church, they do know how to step in during a time of need. I know he will have physical help. And the only thing I can really do is continue to be his friend and have a willing ear if needed.

So instead you start to think of your life. I think its natural to turn it inward. And it makes you appreciate the things you do have, just a little bit more. And maybe makes you want to make sure you don't take them for granted.

Feeling love is something that has never been hard for me. The word doesn't scare me in the least. I believe fully in the Four Loves and that it is something you can feel for everyone. And although its very easy for me to feel, its not always as easy to say. So I want to make sure those in my life know how much I love them. All of them. All of you. Whether its my beautiful son or supportive family. My co-workers who get me through the day. My friends that are there when I need to vent or the friends that are there just to share a common bond.

Being able to feel love and share love is what helps fill up your emotional bank to help get you through those times when the world just doesn't seem to make sense. When you don't know what else to feel, you can feel love. And I just wish I could wrap you all up in a giant hug of love.

Foto Friday +1

2010-12-04T21:49:00.006-07:00

So last night I was at my parents and I left my camera there, hence the lateness. The camera was left in the craziness of Ordervillites arrival. Today and tomorrow are the concerts of the choir my mom and I sing in. And my aunt, and other aunt, and cousin, and other cousin, and another cousin. (and if you think that's a lot, two sisters and two other cousins have sung in it) So they made the trek for the concert. The love sponge is in the house which means lots of this

And this

tons of this

and much craziness

Not much of this

Because the flash scared him and he ran off. Very sensitive soul.

And ending with some of this

Leaf Reviewed

2010-11-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Ranger Confidential ~ Andrea Lankford: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks

What? A book review? Am I on Britta's page? I know. One benefit to not having a working computer for a few days was that I finally finished a book. That I have been reading for three months. I'm slow.

Keeley and Will gave me this book on my birthday and I have to say it is in my all time top 5 books. LOVED IT!

I have a fascination and love for the outdoors. In college for a time I thought I would become a Forest Ranger. I didn't end up going down that path and there is part of me that has always kept that dream in my heart. This book did something I didn't expect. It made me glad that I didn't end up in that profession. But it did recharge a desire to visit every national park in the U.S. I have been to one. I have some work to do.

This book is a very in depth look into what its really like to be a Park Ranger. The author was a full-time ranger for 12 years and at the end of that 12 years and the death of a close friend, she threw her uniform in a dumpster.

She talks about how rangers go into their job wanting to protect nature and in the end their job is to protect people from themselves. You read stories about how criminals go on vacation too. And how prevalent death is within the largest parks. People come to Nation Parks specifically to kill themselves. And the rangers are the people who deal with that. Rangers perform life threatening rescue attempts all the time. Sometimes lives are saved and sometimes they put their live on the line just to give a family a body.

Its a very hard, thank less job. And yet they live in the most breathtaking places on earth. And that is their reward. This book definitely increased my appreciation for rangers and love for the parks they protect. The book is filled with adventure, love, regret and heartbreaking sorrow.

Its definitely a tribute to her love for the parks and those she worked with. It is also a candid look at how the job wears a person down. The book makes me want to just personally thank those who put in all the hard work so that we can have these places preserved and we can enjoy them and all that they have to offer us.

1 park down ~ many more to go...

Foto Friday

2010-11-26T21:15:00.006-07:00

Few things. This is a typical day at our house. Will looking at star wars legos on his personal laptop while watching dinosaurs on tv. Could he be more of a nerd in training?

How about asking me to take pictures of him and the lego army guys while he poses like an army guy.

Will: I really want a puppy for Christmas
Me: I'm sorry but we can't have puppies at our apartment
Will: Then maybe we can get a new house for Christmas!
Me: Good luck with that

Tonight was the Provo City Christmas Parade which is ran by my department at work. I've never actually been to the parade because it is usually the first Saturday of December which also happens to be the concert for the choir I sing in. This year they decided to do a night parade with lights and it got moved to black friday. It was cold! My sister Maiken and the kids watched and got a few pics while I walked in the parade. Good times.

Before the parade they had a Santa 5K Run. Every participant receives a Santa outfit and they get milk and cookies along the route. Wish we would have gotten some pictures with a large crowd, but it was awesome to see a hundred people all dressed like Santa running down the street. (can click the pic to see bigger)

Our entry. Zippy (0ur mascot), reindeer, elves and one of the mowers decorated in lights.

It's officially the Christmas season!

2010-11-23T19:24:00.003-07:00

It really sucks when you have something that you are really excited about, and want to write about when that excitement is still fresh. And then your computer crashes that night. Sucks. Luckily I have a great dad who was able to come save me from my own computer stupidity and get me back up and working. Thanks again dad!

So. Back to Saturday. One of my favorite websites for years now has been dooce.com. Remember I mentioned just last week? Well I have met a lot of friends through the community of followers, including Marty. Hi Marty. And through Marty met Gidget and through Gidget have met lots of cool people. And met a very close friend Ashley through the site and on and on.

There is a group of local followers who have met a couple of times and its been really fun getting to know them. We had a met up planned for Saturday and again my sister Maiken graciously watched Will so I could go hang out for a few hours. One of the new people to the meet ups said we needed to make sure to invite Heather (dooce) and her husband Jon. After several comments about it I had to comment that I didn't really think there was any way Heather would ever come. She hadn't ever made a comment about our previous meet ups and from comments she had made on her blog, I just didn't think it would be the kind of thing she would do.

So there we are Saturday night at a local brewery and just after ordering we are going around with more formal introductions. We are almost done when the girl next to me interrupts with a "oh my god." For some reason my first thought was that I was going to turn and see a bar fight. Instead we all turn to see Heather and Jon walking towards our table. You guys I don't know how to explain that feeling. Now I realize only about 3 people have a chance of understanding, but I was meeting a person that I really admire. Someone who's blog I have read for 6+ years. Someone that I consider a celebrity. And she was walking towards our table! To have dinner with us!!

It was awesome. Amazing. They were so friendly and open to hanging out with us, and it was just a great night. We talked about parenting, relationships, depression, the site, and a little nerd talk for the two guys at our table. And my normal shy self took a big step and realized I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell Heather how much she and her site and community have meant to me. I got a bit choked up telling her and I'm sure everyone else at the table was wishing I would shut up, but when was I ever going to be sitting across a table from her again. And her site really has meant a lot to me this last year. And the amazing people I have met through the community are hopefully people I will be life long friends with.

They had to leave so their baby sitter could go home, but not before Heather left to go the restroom and stopped to pay our tab on the way out. Very nice. We were all in shock after they were gone. We weren't expecting it at all and it was just such a fun surprise. And although I feel really stupid for my comments about how she would never come, very happy to have been proven wrong.

I've never really had any "celebrities" that I have wanted to meet. And yeah I do realize that a lot of people have never heard of her, but she is my celebrity. And oh so happy to have met her. And thanks again to Maiken! Sorry you weren't there too!

Foto Friday

2010-11-19T22:55:00.003-07:00

Something a little different today. One of my favorite websites, dooce.com, is having a contest where you can win a really sweet camera. Go enter, the deadline is Monday but it would be really cool if someone I knew won it. And then let me borrow it.

So the contest is for Shutterfly and you have to make and submit a photo book. My sister Britta actually uses this site to do a calendar for the family every year and she made a photo book for my parents when Wade took family pictures for us.

Now the contest is judged on the book as a whole, not just the pictures so it said you could use pictures you didn't take but had permission to use. Good thing! And good thing I have some talented family and friends. I "borrowed" several from my brother-in-law Will who is an awesome photographer. My dad also helped and lent me pictures and a few are from my sister Britta, and one from Maiken. And the tattoo ones are from Becky. Wow did I do any of this book myself? I swear I did.

It is about my tattoo. (geez will this girl ever get over talking about her tattoo? doubtful) And mostly it was just fun to do and play around with the layouts and colors and everything. And try to come up with something a little different than most of the books submitted. Actually REALLY makes me want to have the camera they are giving away. And then maybe some motivation to go along with it to work on learning some skills.

Presenting, A girl and her tree

(you probably want to click on the link below to view larger)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Hidden Meaning

2010-11-17T22:14:00.003-07:00

If you were handed this note and asked to pass it along to someone very important, what would you do?

Nope that's not a bad scan, that's the note (you can click on it to see it larger.) Was I given a bomb threat? I can read 500, Calvin and IRAQ. Are 500 guys led by Calvin attacking us from Iraq? Maybe I won something?

What would your response be after getting this, considering the person that gave it to you seems a bit crazy and just a tad scary?

Foto Friday

2010-11-12T13:21:00.007-07:00

Why did the chicken cross the road...

My friend "A" and I were driving around the other day because he took part of the day off work to keep me company and entertain me. "A" is shy (or embarrassed to have me as a friend) so I'm calling him "A" for anonymous friend.

stopping at an intersection...
A - Did I just hit a chicken?
K - No I think it was a plastic bag that just blew across the street
A - No I think it was a chicken
K - You did not just hit a chicken
A - Look, its right there. I just hit a chicken. Is it alive?

Looking behind us there were feathers all over the road. Still not sure what happened other than a chicken tried to cross the road and got a bit tangled up with his car. I went back a few hours later to check on him and he was still standing in the exact same spot. This is one lucky chicken.

To keep the random animal theme going we stopped by to check in on "A's" horse, Sarco. He has blue eyes. And its weird. You don't realize till you see him but most horses have dark eyes. He's a beautiful horse and it sort of hits you when you see his striking eyes, they are almost eerie because they are so different. But he didn't like me. I think he takes awhile to warm up like his owner does. So I wasn't able to get a great shot that showed how beautiful and different he is, but gives you an idea.

So today, here's to being beautifully different!

Foto Friday

2010-11-05T12:45:00.002-06:00

Nothing like a blurry photo to show your excitement! I don't usually talk about work on here, but good news is ok I think. On Tuesday a bond passed that will let us build a new recreation center. Anyone who has been to the current one, knows how desperately it is needed.

After working on this for 11 years, the mood at work has been, YAY! Now what. Its kind of a weird feeling. It will be an interesting two years with the design and build and then a very stressful time helping to open the new facility. So here's to the next two years!

And I'm guessing by the time we have the grand opening I'm gonna be needing some of the real stuff, and not just sparkling cider.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T14:07:00.012-06:00

Sorry can't put up a Halloween post and not include this picture. Its just too damn adorable. And a reminder back to the time when I actually got to pick my son's costume. Those days are long gone!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Even though I hate scary things. You couldn't pay me to go through a haunted house or watch a horror film. So really I just like dressing up. But I like it enough to make it a favorite. And the candy might have something to do with it.

Of course when you're an adult you can just go buy candy whenever you want. So not quite the excitement on that level. And I did feel old when sitting at the party last night and thinking, we buy a bag of candy to pass out and my kid goes around to other people to fill up his bag of candy. Why don't we just buy our kid a bag of candy?

Anyway. For those not familiar with the Utah tradition (I think its only Utah. Maybe Idaho? They are our cousins in crazy) Several years ago people got all freaked out about kids walking around the neighborhood and so started what is called Trunk or Treat. Where everyone drives to the church parking lot, decorates the trunk, and you go from car to car to Trick or Treat.

Does save tired parents from having to follow their kid around town for an hour, but also, we had to work for that bag of candy when I was a kid! No 10 minute commitment, you were out all night. My parents church has even taken it a step further and moved the party inside and people decorate a doorway to a classroom and you just walk, or shove each other down the hall. Now I will say that when you are getting ready to leave and it starts hailing, not so sad about going to do the Trick or Treating inside. But its still kinda lame.

Soldiers make it safe.

Very cute monkey

And my award for best costume was this kid that was a bunk bed. Very creative.

Will wanted to be an army man this year. And that kid was committed. This is a week ago. And I think he has worn camo almost every day since.

When I picked him up on Thursday he was sporting some new wares including some hand me downs from Pop-Pop's Air Force days. And a machine gun. And I'll just keep my opinions about that to myself for now.

Friday we carved pumpkins and then went to the carnival put on by my work every year. I didn't take any pictures there because sometimes I'm just not in the mood. Or lazy. Or something like that.

Shocker Will wanted a puppy pumpkin and Lucia wanted a kitty. Sometimes these kids are very predictable. And yes that is a different set of camo Will is sporting there. Lucia wouldn't pose for me.

I went as Hit Girl this year from the movie Kick Ass. And yes it is great fun to tell a bunch of conservatives at work that you are a character from a movie called Kick Ass. The overall costume turned out ok, I made my skirt and cape the rest was purchased, but the funnest part was the wig. Wigs suck to wear for 11 hours in a row at work, but its fun having something that different. And it was a ton of fun to later play around on my dad's mac with photo booth and the comic photo feature.

Bathroom mirror shot

So to those not living in Utah (or Pennsylvania, you can't trick or treat there on any weekend night!) Happy Halloween!!

Foto Friday

2010-10-29T12:15:00.003-06:00

This has been a really hard week for me. Don't really want to write a lot about it here. But I do know that sometimes you have to just get on the train and take the ride. You have to go to the next station even if there is a chance of getting hurt or causing pain. You have to try. Because if you don't, you miss the beautiful sites along the way.

Me and my tree

2010-10-24T11:56:00.012-06:00

(warning: post may include sappy, sentimental gushings)

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved trees...

Its hard to pinpoint when my love for trees began. But overtime it has definitely continued to grow. I have been interested in getting another tattoo for some time now and wanted to make sure that I was really settled in what I wanted to get. Knowing quite well the commitment in getting one. After going several years with the general idea not changing, I figured it was worth moving forward on it.

Without going into too much detail I will admit that going through the divorce definitely gave me another push in getting this done. If nothing else divorce definitely makes you re-evaluate yourself. And you end up focusing in on you a bit more. For good or bad. I tried getting something set up to get the tattoo done last year around my birthday. But things just kept seeming to not really work out. I now know why. I wasn't ready yet.

A few months ago at work I was asked to fill in and take minutes at a meeting. It was for a local gallery stroll and was full of gallery owners. One of the women there owned a gallery/tattoo parlor called the Painted Temple. She just seemed like a really interesting person and I have never noticed the place even though I drive by it a couple times a week.

I looked their place up online and started browsing the artists work. And then I saw the trees. Daniel Walker's stuff just grabbed me. It was the detail in the bark. The texture of the trees that I just didn't feel in others work I had looked at. I found my artist. And it turns out trees are his favorite thing to tattoo. Definitely a match.

Like any good artist, there would be a wait. And so the nerves kicked in. Two of my sisters with tattoos reassured me that it was all normal and the wait continued. Finally last Saturday the day came. I will admit to a bit of a break down that morning. It had been, and was to come a big week. This was just another thing thrown into a lot of other emotional stuff. I showed up at the appointment nervous. Would I be able to tell him what I really wanted? Would he do a good job? Would I be able to handle the pain? Would I be happy with the end result?

The session started with Daniel and I going through inspiration pictures. We both quickly narrowed the search to several pictures of live oaks. We both loved the unique twists and turns of the trees. Daniel doesn't do any pre-sketching of the tattoos. He likes to design it to your body so he does the sketching right on you. Most of the trees that he does have a bit of a dark feel to them. I told him that I didn't want a dark, evil tree. Trees to me are protection, comfort, strength. Offering all of that to those who come near. He said that it would be something a bit different for him, but he thought it would be fun. And in the end he told me that my tree ended up being one of his all time favorites.

Having someone draw on my back was a very cool feeling. And when I saw the sketch I was amazed. I mean all he had done was look at a few pictures with me, pick up a sharpie and go to work. After the outline was done with the sharpie he added some more detail to the drawing with a pen. Talent is not something this guy is lacking.

With the ok to move ahead, the fun began. Now I do have a small tattoo on my foot so I am aware of the pain associated with a tattoo. But the first one took about 10 minutes. This was going to be several hours.

A favorite blog of mine is dooce.com written by Heather Armstrong. I really enjoy reading her stuff and have actually meet a lot of people through it. Including Marty who comments here. Hi Marty! Last year Heather wrote a great post about giving birth to her second daughter without medication. One of the things that has stuck with me from that post was her description of dealing with the pain.

"Have you ever seen one of those yard ornaments where a constant stream of water flows over a ball of some sort? They've got a giant one at the Hogle Zoo here in Salt Lake City, and I didn't even know that I was going to have this sort of vision, but suddenly I've turned myself into that water ball at the Hogle Zoo, and the contraction is the water flowing over me. "

And that's what I pictured during the tattoo. That the pain was just washing over me. I tried very hard to not give into my natural feeling of tensing up against the pain and tried to let it wash over me. Not becoming part of me. And I'm very glad I had that visualization to focus on or I'm not sure I would have made it through the five hours. When the tattoo was done all of the built up adrenaline came flowing out and I was shaking for about 30 minutes afterward.

I'm very thankful to my good friend Becky for coming with me and taking photos to document the experience. And during the second half when I had to focus more on not giving into the pain, it was a nice distraction to listen to her and Daniel talk about art. And have to just make sure I also mention how amazing Daniel was. He put on music that we both liked, was very easy to talk to, and was just an awesome guy.

I can't explain the feeling when I looked in the mirror seeing the tree take shape. I mean its not like you get a second chance to erase. This is a one shot deal. And it was just so beautiful. So perfect. So much what I wanted. I told him later that I wasn't able to go in and describe exactly what my dream tree was. And yet somehow he was able to draw it. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Except that sometimes I wish it was somewhere that I could just stare at it.

When my sister Maiken saw it she said that it was like looking at a piece of my soul. And it is. Its an inner part of me that is now on the outside. Its a reminder to me of my strength and connection with nature. A few days after getting it I was able to be up at one of my special spots in the canyon and feel the fall breeze on my back. And it brought me to tears. Its my tree. And I'm that tree.

Foto Friday

2010-10-21T18:31:00.003-06:00

A little bit of a delay on my tattoo post. So for today, a find driving through Aspen Grove. Stopped to try and get a picture of an avalanche area but couldn't get a good shot through the trees. While walking back to the car, passed by this awesome tree that had been uprooted. It was in a very rocky area and the roots of the tree had just grown around the rocks, encompassing them. It just struck me as one of those very cool things you happen upon in nature.

Coming...

2010-10-18T00:48:00.003-06:00

There will be a post coming about my tattoo. I'm just waiting till I see my friend Becky in a few days to get a cd of all the pictures she took. But I can't wait to share the experience, because it was awesome! And my tattoo is awesome! And I want to just stare at my back. But its kinda hard. Cause its my back.

To be continued...

Watercolors

2010-10-18T00:09:00.003-06:00

Back in March, I became the new owner of my great aunt Bis's dresser. In June when I went out to PA to visit my sister Britta and her family, we went to the Harrisburg Art Festival. I fell in love with several watercolors by Deborah Nell. I bought several small cards with the plan of framing them.

One of the things I remember about my aunt Bis is that she had a wall of all different shapes and sizes of mirrors in her bedroom. The thing that tied them all together was that they were all gold. (from what I remember) I didn't have a lot of room to try and display the watercolors but thought that it would be cool to have them next to my aunt's dresser and have them all in silver frames that were different.

It took me much longer than expected to find frames that would work, but I finally got the project done this weekend. And I'm very happy having them in my room. They all remind me of a mix of myself and the wonderful women in my family.

Foto Friday

2010-10-15T18:26:00.001-06:00

Really?

No shit sherlock

Foto Friday - Sundance

2010-10-08T11:56:00.000-06:00

First off, my dad Bob recently told me that you can use Photoshop online. For free. To like edit your pictures. Awesome. So much better than trying to fix red eye in Paint! Only wish I'd know sooner.

Ok so this last weekend my dad Monte and Jackie came to visit while the Schroeder's are in town. They rented this awesome cabin up the canyon at Sundance and we just all hung out for a long weekend and soaked in lots of family time and lots of nature time.

The weekend in pictures

The cabin. I was going to take more photos but didn't get around to it before our stuff exploded all over it.

Grampi time on the balcony

River next to the cabin

Pretzel time

Marshmallow time

Throwing pine cones into the river

Sucker time

Got an awesome secret shortcut to Stewart Falls. Helps when the cabin owner is a Stewart.

The falls

Touching the falls

Hot tub time

Lots of coloring time. Lots

Movie time

Cascade Springs

Helping point out the fish

Attempting group photos

Enjoying the interpretive signs more than the scenery

I love, love rock stairs. Just something about using nature to landscape nature. Makes me swoon.

Aspen make me swoon too. Unfortunately we weren't able to get any pics in the spots where they were just glowing yellow. Rain storms and tiny roads.

A great few days of family and nature. Thanks everyone for the great weekend!

Foto Friday

2010-10-01T22:21:00.003-06:00

Yay the Schroeder's are here! To be followed by more family. Always good times.

Ok everyone, I'm gonna take your picture so shove your mouths full of popcorn and pretend to be entranced by the tv.

Perfect.